To Erode Trust, To Make Bad Decisions
by frozencinders
Summary: The Soul Reapers, a task force organization with ambiguous morals, are meant to crush the presence of the Arrancars in Hueco Mundo. Rukia is sworn to secrecy and can't tell Ichigo about any of it until absolutely necessary. She curses herself for foolishly bringing him along. Mob AU. GrimmIchi will be creeping into the story at a slow pace.
1. Chapter 1

"You understand the situation, correct?" a voice Ichigo didn't recognize asked, not bothering to wait for Rukia's response. "See to booking a flight to Hueco Mundo soon."

Ichigo stepped into the kitchen, where Rukia sighed as she stared down at her phone, standing up straight again after having leaned over the counter in front of her slightly.

"Didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, but, uh," Ichigo started, grabbing Rukia's attention, "the volume on your phone is pretty loud. Might as well have been on speaker."

"I've been meaning to turn that down..." she mumbled, doing so as she said it, "well, as you apparently heard, I'm going to Mexico soon. Work related."

"What, all on your own? Have you ever even flown before?" Rukia went silent for a moment.

"H-have you?" she asked in return, averting her eyes, which clearly reflected that she could use some advice. Ichigo huffed and grinned.

"Not alone, but you won't have to go alone either. I'll come with you." Rukia kept her gaze away from Ichigo, but that seemed to spark something very temporary in her expression that he couldn't quite recognize. A twitch of the brow, a slight narrowing of the eyes, further aversion of her sight, a tug at the corner of her lips... Ichigo had no idea what it meant, but he assumed she was being stubborn about accepting help.

"I'll be staying with Renji when I get there, so it's not like I'll be completely alone anyway," she said, a slight bit of irritated regret dawning on her face when she realized what she'd said.

"That's where that bastard went? No way am I not coming along now, I haven't seen Renji in... shit, how long has it been? Two years now?"

"Ichigo you can't come along."

"Why not?" Rukia seemed to hesitate at that, remaining silent for a few seconds before sighing and closing her eyes, her gaze finally meeting his own when they opened.

"Alright, have it your way. On one condition." She held out a finger to emphasize the condition she was about to reveal.

"Name it."

"You have to carry all my bags," she informed, a small smile crossing her face. Ichigo's own smile dropped and he let out an exaggerated moan, followed by a mumbled, "fine."

* * *

After the stress of nearly missing their second connecting flight, Ichigo swore he would never take a trip that involved layovers again, certainly not two. He couldn't wait for the unlikely invention of planes with infinite fuel. Rukia laughed and agreed before he had even realized he said that out loud.

There they were, two days after leaving Japan, in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo had always heard it was a desert, but it didn't match the landscape he imagined. It actually looked rather normal, buildings and all. On the ride to Renji's place, during which he and Rukia took the time to catch up with the redhead, Ichigo noticed there were less trees around than where he lived, but they weren't particularly scarce, he was pretty sure.

"So what's it been like living without your best friend, Ichigo?" Renji teased, turning back to face him as he stopped at a red light.

"Great. Hardly noticed you were gone," Ichigo teased right back, earning a laugh from Renji and a chuckle from Rukia.

"Good to see it went both ways, yeah?"

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Abarai."

"You first, Kurosaki."

"Can the gas peddle maybe get involved in this 'fucking' session?" Rukia asked, barely a milisecond before the car behind them honked its horn. Renji muttered a swear and returned his eyes to the road, continuing the drive home.

"You know, it's nice being able to speak my first language again," Renji mused, taking a hand off the wheel to scratch at his forehead.

"I guess people speak mostly Spanish here, huh?" Ichigo asked, catching Rukia closing her mouth out of the corner of his eye. He guessed she was probably about to ask the same thing.

"Yeah, especially cashiers and people like that. I had no choice but to pick at least some of it up, and I'm almost fluent at this point. Thankfully, there's also plenty of English spoken around, and a fair bit of Japanese since Hueco Mundo's got a lot of people who moved over from Japan. Just, you know, not enough to be _too_ convenient, of course."

Ichigo allowed himself to space out while Renji complained to Rukia about languages. Suddenly, how tired Ichigo was hit him all at once, and he mentally cursed a bit as he realized how many bags he and Rukia had. They practically packed everything they had, leaving Ikkaku a nearly empty apartment to watch while they were gone. Ichigo found himself hoping the place wasn't completely wrecked by the time they got back, considering how rowdy- putting it lightly- Ikkaku and his friends can get.

He reminisced on how he and Rukia even began sharing an apartment in the first place. Ichigo told her as the two were finishing up college about how he was getting an apartment so he could live separately from his family. Rukia commented on how she should get one too, soon. She loved her brother, her only guardian for as long as she could remember, but his presence was almost always suffocating. Ichigo suggested that they share an apartment for a while, and they just never saw the need to stop living together.

Ichigo barely even noticed the car come to a stop as they pulled up to Renji's apartment complex. Thankfully, Renji was nice enough to help with the bags so they wouldn't have to make multiple trips. Ichigo commented on how tired he was and agreed to simply carrying his and Rukia's carry on bags inside since they were lighter and smaller than the suitcases.

"Alright, I've got a guest room and a couch. Figure out who gets what between the two of you," Renji said as he unlocked the door to his apartment. If Ichigo wasn't already too tired to argue when he was getting out of the car, he certainly was after carrying both his and Rukia's bags up two flights of stairs. He set the bags down and took his shoes off, immediately crashing onto the couch and silently relinquishing the bed in the guest room to Rukia. He could swear he heard her offering to alternate during the time they were there, but he fell asleep before he could answer.


	2. Chapter 2

When Ichigo awoke, the sun was rising. Checking his phone, he was amazed that he'd slept from around 3 PM the previous day to 6 AM that morning. Knowing Renji and Rukia probably wouldn't be awake for a while, he got up and stretched before sifting through the suitcase with his clothes in it. Gently pushing open the doors of the apartment until he found the bathroom, he didn't bother to ask permission for a shower.

Ichigo had taken his time in the shower up until the point that he stopped spacing out, realizing the water bill at Renji's apartment wasn't his to pay. Or rather, Rukia's, since Ichigo was unemployed ever since he quit working for his father as an attendant at his hospital. He wanted to see if he could find a better job, but he didn't have a lot of time to search before Rukia got the call to move to Mexico for a while. He supposed it was convenient that he didn't have to tell his place of work that he was going to be far out of the country for an undetermined amount of time.

As he walked into the living room, still toweling off his wet hair, he received a greeting from Renji as the redhead finished up in the kitchen, apparently having just eaten. It took Ichigo a few minutes after getting up to realize how hungry he was, but he was already part-way through getting undressed and figured the shower could come first.

"Tried to wake you up for dinner last night, but you wouldn't budge," Renji informed, the television flickering to life in near synchronization with his movement to sit on the couch. Ichigo joined him, watching his friend flip through channels he didn't recognize in the slightest.

"That's another thing, all the stuff on TV is in Spanish," the redhead complained, "another reason I'm glad I'm finally decent at it."

"I guess you'll have to translate for me while I'm here, huh?" Renji turned to give Ichigo an incredulous look.

"Wait, did you not bother to learn any Spanish at all before coming here?" he asked.

"Uh... alright, maybe I didn't think that far ahead," Ichigo admitted, "in fact, the only word I know is si."

"I'm sure you mean sí," Renji corrected.

"Yeah that's what I just said."

"No, you said si."

"What's wrong with you? That's literally exactly what I said, and what I _thought_ I said!"

"No, no, if anyone only knows one word of Spanish, it's the word for yes," Renji elaborated, "but you said the word for if. Si is if, sí is yes."

"It sounds the same to me!"

"Well, it's not!"

"You two are arguing already?" Rukia interjected, standing in the hallway with her arms crossed. "We haven't even been here 24 hours yet."

"Ichigo's wrong and I'm telling him why, that's all. Just like every other argument we have."

"Alright, how about that time you were drunk and crying about how you never tried anchovy pizza and I told you it was a terrible idea but you went ahead and ordered one anyway?" Renji blinked, surprised.

"Th-that was like five years ago! And I wasn't crying!"

"Crying, whining, whatever!"

"Hey!" Rukia interrupted again.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask, Rukia," Ichigo said, immediately changing his tune, "how long are we staying here?"

"I don't know yet, but let me talk!"

The boys muttered their apologies in unison, with Renji politely turning off the television since apparently nothing he wanted to watch was on, anyway.

"We should go out today. I've never been out of Karakura Town and I think it would be fun," Rukia told more than suggested.

"Yeah, I know a couple of places we could go to, I guess. Definitely a great place for lunch, at least. There's a diner not too far from here, only like a ten minute drive."

"Wait, you've never been out of Karakura Town at all? I mean, I could see not leaving Japan, but to never leave a town?" Ichigo asked, amazed that he was only just then finding that out.

"What's wrong with it? I never really had anywhere else to go," she answered, her voice lowering a bit with the flow of her latter sentence, as if her confidence was slowly backing down.

"It's just amazing to me that you've never been outside Karakura Town... man, not even as a baby?"

"It's not that weird!"

"No, I agree with Ichigo," Renji commented, "it's kinda weird."

"It's not!" Rukia insisted. "Also, when are we leaving?"

"I don't know, eleven-ish? How's that sound?" Rukia seemed to mull it over for a brief moment before nodding.

"Eleven's fine. What about you, Ichigo?"

"Yeah, whatever. I could definitely use some breakfast before worrying about lunch," he said, noticing he actually got a little dizzy just from turning his head while seated.

"I make the best pancakes," Renji claimed as he got up from the couch, "come on, I'll make you some. How much you want, ten? A dozen? Baker's dozen?"

Ichigo scoffed, unable to help the smile on his face.

"What, you trying to starve me?"

That earned a laugh out of Renji, who Ichigo followed into the kitchen. Rukia had chuckled too, he noticed, as she disappeared into the guest room again. Ichigo assumed she was probably about to take a shower, too. He only hoped he hadn't used most of the hot water while he was spaced out.

* * *

Ichigo had been worried that his overeating during breakfast would have ruined the lunch he and his friends had planned, but thankfully, he'd gained some of his hunger back in the time before they left. He let Renji know he was going to have a light lunch since he ate eight pancakes earlier. Renji laughed and corrected him, insisting he only had five, and that he would know, considering the redhead was the one who made them.

Upon reaching the diner, Ichigo almost immediately spotted something- some _one_ \- rather unique in the back. A mess of spiky blue hair like he'd never seen before talked on the phone next to someone with long, blond hair. The one with blue hair closed his eyes and reached his free hand up to set a few stray hairs with the rest, moving his entire arm in the process. Ichigo found the sight more impressive than he should have, and when the man opened his eyes again, they met Ichigo's.

Realizing he had been staring, Ichigo was about to avert his eyes before the man smiled at him, looking more feral than friendly, and began to walk over. Ichigo checked his surroundings to see that Renji and Rukia had already sat down a little ways away from him, too busy talking to each other to notice his predicament. Before he could decide what to do, he turned his head again to meet striking eyes as blue as the hair above them. The man said something to him in Spanish, to which Ichigo could only reply by stuttering confusedly until he found his words.

"Uh, I don't speak Spanish, sorry," he apologized, taking a step back. This didn't deter the man, who raised a brow. Ichigo's shoulders dropped slightly when the stranger started speaking Japanese back at him.

"You new around here? From Japan, I'd guess?"

"Yeah, uh, Karakura Town."

"Never heard of it. How long are you gonna be around?" Ichigo barely had time to collect his thoughts with how quickly the conversation was going.

"Hang on, we haven't even done introductions yet!"

"You gonna do 'em or what, then? Name's Grimmjow," he jabbed a thumb behind him without looking in the direction of the blond Ichigo had noticed before, "that's Yylfordt."

"Ichigo," he answered, feeling a bit awkward not saying his family name, but figuring he shouldn't since Grimmjow didn't, "and I don't know how long yet, but probably a while. I came here with my friend because she's never flown before, and she's here for work, so..."

"Girlfriend?" he asked simply, just like everyone else had always assumed. Ichigo wondered if it was safe to tell this stranger why it was impossible for that to be.

"No, just a girl who's a frie-"

"Single then? How 'bout you come sit with me?"

Ichigo no longer had to wonder if it was alright to tell Grimmjow he was gay.

"I would have to let her and Renji know first..."

"Who?"

"Renji is-"

"Nevermind, don't care. Hurry up."

Grimmjow was at the back of the diner again before Ichigo could recover from their exchange, surprised by how quickly the man spoke. He remembered being told to hurry, and quickly made his way over to his friends' table.

"Hey, uh, change of plans apparently. Someone asked me to sit with him."

"What? And you're just gonna ditch your best friends that easy?" Renji asked, incredulous. Rukia smiled mischievously behind her hand.

"I know what this is about... that blue haired guy, right? I can't believe you're already running off with a stranger when you only just found out about a year ago that you-"

"Rukia, don't say anything. I'm serious." Ichigo pleaded, a frown tugging at his lips.

"Huh? What are you talking about, what's going on?"

"It's not like Renji would care, Ichigo. I don't know why you're so paranoid, you can trust him."

"I still don't know what's going on, but she's right, Ichigo. You can trust me with anything, you know? Now are you gonna explain _today_?"

"He's gay. Only figured it out about a year ago, as I was saying."

"Rukia!"

"Oh, is that all? I kinda had you figured for gay, anyway. Not that big of a shock."

"Renji!"

"Are you gonna keep your date waiting?" Rukia asked, her smile only growing.

"He's not my date, I just... I think it would be good to make some new friends!"

"Since when are you so eager to socialize, Ichigo?" Renji teased, the smile on his face even wider than Rukia's.

"Why, my thoughts exactly..." she chimed.

"Sh-shut up! It's been a while, so I figure-"

"Thought I told you to hurry up," a familiarly gruff voice said from behind Ichigo, making him jump.

"Yeah, yeah..." Ichigo mumbled, following Grimmjow to the back. As soon as they sat down, Grimmjow waved for a waiter.

"So, uh... how much of that conversation did you hear?" he asked, a bit tentative.

"Most of it. Fact that you're gay is pretty lucky for me," Grimmjow said, flashing another smile. Ichigo's breath caught in his throat for a second, but a waitress arrived before he could think of anything to say.

"That's my cue to leave," Yylfordt said, "I don't have time to sit around, gotta pick up Edrad in a little bit."

Grimmjow got up to let Yylfordt through, waving him off when he sat back down and ordered a drink. Ichigo asked for water, and the waitress titled her head at him before Grimmjow kindly translated for him, sending her off to retrieve their drinks.

"Thanks, I keep forgetting I'm not in Karakura anymore," Ichigo admitted, lightly scratching his cheek.

"Better get used to it. Only some folks here speak Japanese, hardly any employees you'd be interacting with."

"So, are you from Japan, too? Or..."

"Complicated. Maybe I'll explain some other time, but it's a boring story." Ichigo nodded, taking his glass of water when the waitress returned with their drinks, and asking Grimmjow to order whatever he recommended for him. Ichigo slowly stirred the ice around in his water with the straw it came with, taking a sip and sitting in silence with Grimmjow for a while, before he spoke up again.

"Never met anyone as hot as you before," he commented bluntly, smiling when Ichigo's eyes widened. He was grateful he hadn't taken another sip at that moment, or he might have been choking at that point.

"Pretty, uh... forward, aren't you?"

"Nothin' wrong with honesty. Doesn't mean I only want in your pants, either." Ichigo's mind immediately interpreted that as meaning he was looking for a serious romantic relationship, before realizing he most likely just meant it in a friendly way. Well, as friendly as the eccentric blue haired stranger could get.

Again, the waitress was his saving grace as she arrived with their meals, which Ichigo thankfully recognized as food he was familiar with. While he didn't have wings often, it made them somewhat of a rare treat for him. While they ate, the two got to talking. It was mostly Grimmjow asking about Ichigo, which he would then answer, and in between, they began to make rude comments at each other. Ichigo was surprised at how quickly their relationship became similar to the one he had with Renji, throwing friendly insults around already. Renji himself had approached him along with Rukia, saying to give him a call once he was ready to go home. Ichigo barely nodded in response.

"If you dyed your hair, though, I probably wouldn't have bothered approaching you. Wouldn't look interesting enough."

"Oh, is the rest of me not interesting enough for you? Like you're one to talk about dying anyway! I probably wouldn't have spotted you in the first place if it weren't for that freaky blue hair!"

The sound Grimmjow made at that, his laugh, higher pitched than one would expect from such a deep, gruff voice, was possibly the best thing Ichigo had ever heard. It gave him a warm feeling, but he recognized it as simply being the feeling of making a new friend laugh for the first time. He had it with Renji, that he remembered. Ikkaku and Rukia, too. Even Yumichika now that he thought about it.

"Unlike you, I actually wanna stand out! You know, my hair's actually this color permanently." Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair, slicking the spikes back for a full second before they flung forward again.

"Wait, seriously? How?"

"You know the blond that was here, Yylfordt? His brother's a scientist, and really a fucking genius if I'm being honest. Don't tell him I said that." Ichigo scoffed at that. "Anyway, he came up with a permanent dye solution, something about it getting your roots to be whatever color you want or some shit. Well, actually, it's not really permanent, but 20 years might as well be."

"Wow. That really is amazing. Twenty years with any hair color you want, and you don't even have to worry about re-dying it all the time?"

"Sounds like a 'would you rather' question, huh? Like, one of those questions where it's something ridiculous like infinite money or you can bang anyone you want for a year, but then there's a weird catch to it?" That sparked an entire 'would you rather' conversation between the two of them, only to eventually be interrupted by the waitress from earlier politely tapping Grimmjow's shoulder to inform him of something in Spanish. He clicked his tongue and translated for Ichigo that the waitress said they were closing up shop and that they needed to leave. Ichigo looked down to realize Grimmjow had already left money on the table for her to collect, and she just hadn't come around to do so until just then because they wouldn't leave.

"Wow, how long were we at it? It's already getting dark out." Ichigo had never seen the time fly like that before, impressed at how well Grimmjow was able to keep his attention, even after Ichigo hadn't seen Renji in so long. He felt a little bad at that, pulling out his phone to text the redhead.

"Can't eat here since they're closin' up shop, but you can come have dinner at my place if you want," Grimmjow offered, eyes closed as he scratched at the side of his neck before standing up. Ichigo was honestly torn between spending more time with Grimmjow and going back to see Renji again. As he was contemplating, the man spoke up again.

"C'mon, today," he complained, beginning to walk toward the entrance. Ichigo smiled and shook his head.

"Alright, fine."


	3. Chapter 3

"So you don't know a lick of Spanish, huh?" Grimmjow asked as the two walked up the driveway to his house.

"Yeah, all I know is," he paused, remembering his argument with Renji, "seeeee."

"Why'd you say it like that?"

"Because Renji was getting on my case about how I was saying it wrong!"

"It's sí."

"Si..."

"Sí."

"Damnit!" Grimmjow laughed at Ichigo's frustration.

"How are you ever gonna learn the rest of the language?" he asked, carelessly tossing his keys on the small table near the front door they had entered.

"I'm sure none of it can be difficult as such a subtle difference like that."

"You're hopeless," Grimmjow said simply, scratching at his forehead. He motioned for Ichigo to sit on the couch as he passed it on his way to the kitchen, flicking on the light to both the kitchen and the living room at once. Ichigo then noticed only one switch out of the two on the wall was up.

"Wait, does that one switch control both lights?" Grimmjow clicked his tongue.

"Yeah, the electrician for this place did a shitty job." He then demonstrated what happened when you flicked the other switch up, which turned the kitchen light off, but left the living room fully lit. As he flicked the first switch back down, the lights swapped, leaving the kitchen lit and the living room dark.

"How the hell do you figure that out?"

"Just jerk the switches off 'till they work," Grimmjow shrugged, earning a laugh out of Ichigo. "So what do you want?"

"Huh? Oh, right, food. Uh... what do you feel like making?" There was a pause and Ichigo heard the blue haired man sigh in thought.

"Honestly, nothing. How's takeout sound? Pizza or somethin'."

"Sounds great," Ichigo said with a grin he knew Grimmjow couldn't see.

"You old enough to drink?"

"'Course I'm old enough to drink. How young do I look?"

"Fuckin' two. Up for a few beers?" Ichigo couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll have one..."

"It's never just one."

"You're not wrong," he admitted, moving from his spot in the middle of the couch as Grimmjow approached him with a 12-pack in hand once he'd finished with a phone call in the kitchen, which Ichigo assumed was for the pizza.

"Why're you trying to get away from me all of a sudden? Scared?" At that, Ichigo moved back where he was, leaving less than a foot of room between them.

"I'm not scared of anything."

"Good. Can't wait for you the get the shit scared out of you when the door bell rings so I can call you a liar."

"That won't happen! Besides there's a difference between being scared and startled!"

"There's not."

"There is!"

"You're full of shit," Grimmjow accused, barely heard over the crack of his action to open the can he was holding. He took a sip and then handed it out to Ichigo, shutting him up with the implication. Ichigo huffed and sifted through the case for a can of his own, intent on not proving his friends right about the blue haired man being his boyfriend.

"Where are you from, again?" he asked. "Koratora or somethin'?"

"What? Not even close, Karakura Town."

"Kinda close. What's it like there? Anything interesting?"

"Not really. There's some freak who comes around sometimes to film his show where he apparently interacts with spirits, but that's about it."

"Nothin' like that here. We've just got the mob and all to worry about." If Ichigo had opened his beer at that point, he absolutely would have began choking on it at how casually Grimmjow mentioned such a subject.

"Mob? What do you mean by mob?" Blue eyes seemed to slowly drag towards him in an entrancing manner.

"I mean exactly what I said. Did your friends not tell you? It's basically impossible to live here without knowing about the Arrancars," Grimmjow explained, his voice low regardless.

"Arrancars..? I've really never heard of them," Ichigo said, voice low as he looked down at his still unopened can of beer.

"Well, fact that you know now doesn't mean shit. They're not gonna suddenly be after you just because you heard the name, 'else everyone here'd be fucked."

"I, uh... guess you have a point. Now I kinda don't feel safe going out at night, honestly." Ichigo knew it was probably silly, as being more paranoid doesn't at all affect the likelihood of anything happening to him.

"Wuss. You can stay here for the night, if you want."

"Well, how am I supposed to accept when you're insulting me?" Despite their words, the two were flashing small smiles at each other.

"I was already gonna offer anyway. Good excuse, huh? I'll keep you safe... wuss."

"I'm not a-" Ichigo jumped as the door bell rang, sending Grimmjow into a laughing fit. "Shit!"

"I told you! I fucking told you!" he said through laughter as he got up to answer the door.

"Shut up!" Slightly embarrassed as he was, Ichigo still couldn't help the reluctant, crooked grin on his face as he tried not to join in on Grimmjow's laughter. He wished he could blame it on the alcohol, but he still hadn't even taken a sip yet. With that thought, Ichigo finally opened his can with hands that were soaked from the condensation. After taking a sip, he looked around the table for a coaster, failing to find any.

"Hey, do you have any coasters?" he asked, still not quite making eye contact as Grimmjow set down two boxes on the table.

"Nah, just put the can anywhere, I don't give a shit. Anyway, I got plain and pepperoni since I figure you can't go wrong with those. If you don't like one, no way in hell you can't stand the other, right?"

Ichigo muttered his agreement, then remembered the story he'd teased Renji about earlier that day. He recounted it to Grimmjow, who laughed with him as they ate together, never bothering to turn on the television through the night as they shared stories about their friends' drunken decisions. Apparently, Grimmjow also knew a bartender. Zommari, Ichigo was pretty sure his name was. The man often gave him free drinks, which Grimmjow was proud to point out as he motioned towards the 12-pack that was nearly empty at that point.

It was already a little past midnight before the two had even realized it was getting late, and the fact that Ichigo should probably text Rukia or Renji with where he was hadn't crossed his mind until he was already comfortable on the couch and his phone was too far for him to reach. Ichigo was slowly drifting off as he mumbled token responses at Grimmjow, who was telling him about how one of his bosses, Gin, would always drop by and somehow end up leaving with some of the drinks Zommari had given him without Grimmjow even noticing until he was gone. He gave a weak, tired laugh as the blue haired man made a joke about getting free drinks out of someone who had also gotten free drinks, before he fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hangover making you pissy this morning?" Grimmjow asked, shuffling down the hall with messy hair he hadn't bothered to spike yet. It was an odd sight, if Ichigo was being honest, but he couldn't say he minded.

"I haven't even said anything yet," Ichigo paused to stretch as he sat up on the couch, "plus, my hangover's not even that bad since I ate plenty last night. In hindsight, it was pretty nice of you to force me to drink water every so often."

"Yeah, I'm just a fuckin' prince, huh?"

"So mild-mannered."

"So you're not feeling pissy? Bet I could change that in an instant," Grimmjow challenged, snapping his fingers to emphasize how quickly the change would allegedly occur.

"Try me... shit."

"I didn't even say nothin' yet and I already won?"

"No, I was gonna call you by your last name before I realized I don't even know it yet."

"Jaegerjaquez. Yours?"

"Kurosaki," Ichigo cracked his neck as he remembered his point, "as I was saying: try me, Jaegerjaquez."

"Loser," Grimmjow muttered as he sat next to Ichigo, "so you came over from Japan to Mexico, right? It was an international flight?"

"Yeah, we established that."

"How were customs?"

" _Oh my god_ , don't even get me started on customs!" Grimmjow laughed and Ichigo couldn't even be bothered that he lost their little contest. He'd completely forgotten to complain about customs to Renji, and was intent on getting it out of his system while he remembered.

"Just awful. Like, I always wondered why you're supposed to show up at the airport two hours early, right? The few times I ever flew, the airports weren't really crowded or anything and my family and I got through security in what... ten, fifteen minutes? So I basically always assumed I just got lucky or something, maybe the two hours early thing is just in case the airport is crowded. No, it's for fucking customs! And I had two layovers, which made the whole trip even worse! I better not have to do customs on the ride back, which is sure as hell gonna be a direct flight if I can get one!"

Grimmjow hadn't stopped laughing through Ichigo's ranting, finally calming down as he disappeared into the kitchen, after having messed with the light switches for a few seconds. Ichigo allowed himself to stew in his own annoyance until Grimmjow came back with two glasses of water, handing one to him as the blue haired man sat down again.

"Who came up with customs, anyway?" Ichigo mumbled, setting his drink down to cross his arms. Grimmjow opened his mouth, probably about to make a joke rather than actually answer a question like that, before he looked behind him suspiciously.

"Shit, I think my phone's ringing. Hang on," he said, jumping up from the couch and running down the hall back to his room. That reminded Ichigo of his own phone, which he checked to see he had two unread texts, both from Rukia.

9:32 PM  
Where are you?

10:04 PM  
Jeez, fine, hope I didn't interrupt your quality time with your new boyfriend.

Ichigo frowned, wishing Rukia was there in person to see it. He briefly considered sending a picture, but then figured that would be a little ridiculous. He settled for texting, "He's not my boyfriend. Sorry though, got drunk and forgot to call. I'll be at Renji's place in a little bit."

As Ichigo set down his phone and yawned, it vibrated on the table.

8:22 AM  
He's totally your boyfriend.

Always having had a preference for speaking rather than texting, Ichigo considered calling her before Grimmjow came back out into the living room, phone in hand. He placed his free hand over the phone so as not to be heard on the other end of the line as he addressed Ichigo.

"Work call, want me to drive you home on the way there?" he offered, almost immediately uncovering the phone and speaking in Spanish to who Ichigo assumed was one of his bosses.

"Sure. Where do you work, anyway?" Grimmjow's brow twitched, and Ichigo wasn't sure if it was because of the question or whatever the person on the phone with him had said.

"Personal trainer. Don't I look like one?" he smiled, quickly uncovering the phone again once he was done talking to Ichigo.

"Wait, for real? So is Rukia! She works for this, uh, 'organization' she calls it, and apparently they're suddenly getting a ton of clients from around here recently. That's actually why I'm here to begin with. Renji's a trainer, too. That's such a weird coincidence."

Ichigo noticed Grimmjow's smile had dropped, something unidentifiable in his eyes.

"Hope they're not rivals to me or nothin'," he said simply as Ichigo scoffed, "I'd hate to kick the asses of your buddies."

"Oh, please, I know you don't actually give a shit."

"You're not wrong," Grimmjow admitted, his smile returning. Ichigo wondered if that was a reference to what he had said in response to the blue haired man the previous night. Something about beer? The two had talked so much, Ichigo was having a hard time remembering.

* * *

"Give me a call if you wanna see me again. Or if you need help beefin' up those noodle arms," Grimmjow teased as Ichigo opened the car door to get out.

"These noodle arms could punch the shit out of you," Ichigo joked, "but yeah, I'll call you some time. See ya."

With that, he slammed the car door shut and began to walk towards Renji's apartment complex. Looking at his phone, he mused that the time it took to get to the diner from Renji's place was around ten minutes as the redhead had said, and it hadn't taken too long to get to Grimmjow's house from the diner. The two had left Grimmjow's house at around 9 AM, after breakfast, and it was 9:25 as he walked across the parking lot. Ichigo found it convenient that his new friend only lived around half an hour away from his old friend, with a diner he already loved right in between.

Renji opened the door for him soon after he knocked, calling Rukia over to help "interrogate him." Ichigo sighed as he sat down on the couch.

"Alright, a few simple questions," Rukia started with a smile, "did you sleep with him?"

"What?! No!"

"Are you sure? Because you said in your text that you got drunk," Renji commented, "maybe you just don't remember."

"I remember last night just fine! We talked a lot, ate some pizza, got drunk... you know, fun, friendly stuff! You guys should come along next time, actually. I'll ask him if that's alright-"

"Why, so we can watch him feel you up?"

"Wh-?! Th-there was no feeling up! There was no touching at all, alright?!"

"Not even one kiss yet? Jeez, what kind of boyfriend is he?"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Totally is," Renji and Rukia said at once, laughing and high-fiving at their synchronization.

"Come on! You guys wouldn't even be teasing me about this if you didn't know I was gay!"

"To be fair, I would."

"You tease me about everything, Renji!"

"Wow, way to defeat your own point, Ichigo!" Rukia laughed, with Renji joining in. Ichigo tried to maintain a frown, but sighed as it quickly faded.

"Anyway, next question!"

"What's he do for a living?" Renji interrupted, which Rukia seemed to be fine with.

"He's a personal trainer, just like you two. Small world, huh?"

Renji's expression seemed to falter before Rukia noticed and elbowed him.

"What a coincidence! Just keep in mind he can't match my coaching!" she boasted, voice unusually loud and arms crossed.

"Uh, yeah. Wacky, huh?" Renji agreed. Ichigo considered asking why the two were acting strangely, but Rukia quickly changed the subject to ask what they were going to do for that day. That, Ichigo was thankful for, as it meant that the topic of conversation was moved away from accusing him and Grimmjow of being a couple.

"You know, why don't we actually just stay indoors for today? Catch up for a while, maybe watch some TV that Renji can translate," she suggested.

"What? I sure hope you don't expect me to translate every line!"

"Then what good are you?" Rukia joked, knowing the challenge would force Renji's ego to make him translate as much as possible.

"Alright, fine. Ichigo, how about you? Gonna ditch us to hang out with your boyfriend?"

"I already told you, he's not my boyfriend! I'll stay in with you guys today."

"Better let your boyfriend know you won't be available, then..."

"He's _not_ \- Aargh!" Ichigo threw his head back in frustration as his best friends laughed before Rukia turned on the television and suddenly asked Renji to start translating. Caught off guard, he began to recite exactly what was being said on TV before cursing and repeating it in Japanese, causing Ichigo to finally join in on the laughter. Renji gave up attempting to translate not even ten minutes into the first show.

Renji had cooked for them for both lunch and dinner, thoroughly impressing Ichigo with how much he had improved since they met. He complimented him, leading the redhead to explain that during the time he was living alone for two years, he figured he should feed himself as well as he could, no longer settling for nothing but toast and various burnt dishes between all the takeout he used to eat. Rukia joked that even decently cooked toast would be a step up from how well she could cook, to which Ichigo laughingly agreed, both of them stroking Renji's ego.

Deciding he could just take a shower in the morning, Ichigo didn't bother to do so before getting ready to sleep. This time, he kept the television on as background noise, joking to himself in his thoughts that perhaps he could learn Spanish in his sleep by having it being spoken all night. His mind drifted to Grimmjow for the first time since that morning, wondering how he was doing. Checking his phone and seeing no texts, Ichigo decided he was too tired to text him at that moment, setting the device down and going to sleep instead.


	5. Chapter 5

Ichigo awoke to his phone vibrating, to which he responded by blindly reaching for it, eventually succeeding in grabbing and answering it without checking who was calling.

"Hello?" he barely managed to squeak out, sleep lacing his voice. He heard a gasp from the caller.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, Ichigo, did I wake you up? I totally forgot about the time difference!" Ichigo took more than a few seconds to recognize the voice.

"Orihime? No, no, it's fine. It's, uh," he pulled the phone away from his face to check the time, "it's 7:15, I should be getting up soon, anyway."

"Oh, I guess that's not so bad..." she conceded, giving a sigh. "I was about to start getting ready for bed and then remembered I haven't talked to you since before you left with Rukia for Mexico! I thought I'd check in..."

"It's fine, I don't mind. I think it's nice of you to check on me," he said, scratching his side and yawning as he sat up, turning the television off.

"Um, I'll talk to you later, then! Goodni- uh... good morning!"

"Orihime, you don't have to-" Ichigo sighed as he realized she had already hung up, probably still feeling guilty about waking him. Stretching as he stood, Ichigo walked over to his bag and grabbed another outfit to wear for after his shower.

Somewhat proud of himself for not having spaced out quite as much, he had taken a quick shower and made his way to the kitchen, flicking the light on and confusing himself for a brief moment when the lights cooperated as they were supposed to. Ichigo smiled as he remembered the terrible wiring in Grimmjow's house, wondering if he should call him that day.

After placing two slices of bread in the toaster- Renji wasn't up to cook, after all- Ichigo wandered the apartment in search of Renji's room. It wasn't difficult to find the unmade bed, but the redhead himself wasn't in it. Walking back towards the guest room, he tentatively knocked, to which Rukia responded by almost immediately opening the door.

"Hey, where's Renji?"

"Out. He has a client today and left me money to do the shopping for him in a little while," she said, bypassing Ichigo as she spoke.

"Huh. Well, sucks that he had to leave so early. I hope he at least ate something before he left. Speaking of, want some breakfast? I've got toast cooking, but nothing like Renji's pancakes."

"Toast is fine. I can't get too spoiled by Renji's cooking, after all." Rukia had her back turned to him as she walked into the kitchen, but Ichigo could hear the smile in her voice.

"You can have the first batch, I'll wait a little longer," he offered, sitting on the couch again and reaching for his phone to text Grimmjow to ask if he could come over at some point in the day, hoping the blue haired man was awake already.

Ichigo stood with his phone in hand, bringing it to the kitchen and sitting at the table as Rukia put in two more slices of bread in the toaster for Ichigo after pulling hers out. Before he could even place the device on the kitchen table, it vibrated in his hand.

7:33 AM  
Actually, wanna come to a bar with a friend or two of mine today?

Ichigo smiled, texting, "What, to get drunk with you yet again? ... Count me in." He spent a moment imagining who the friends Grimmjow was talking about could be, wondering if Zommari and Gin that he'd heard of would be involved, or perhaps the long haired blond from the diner and his brother. The sound of a plate of toast being placed in front of him shook Ichigo from his thoughts.

"I'm going to a bar with Grimmjow today," he said, and as if on cue, his phone alterted him of Grimmjow's text containing the time he would come to pick him up, "at 2:30, apparently."

"Getting drunk with your boyfriend again?"

"Oh, will you cut that out? He said he's bringing some friends, anyway."

"Sounds like you're going to be having a long night," she teased, laughing when it took Ichigo around fifteen entire seconds to get the joke and yell about it.

"Anyway, I guess I'll go shopping now. There's a grocery store within walking distance and Renji left me a list of things to get."

"Oh, right, be careful," Ichigo warned, remembering the heavy topic Grimmjow had so casually discussed with him, "there's a mob around, I heard."

Rukia stopped in her tracks, standing in front of the door and remaining silent and motionless for a full minute. He heard her breathe as if she were about to say something, waiting a moment before sighing and abandoning whatever it was.

"Thanks for the warning," she said simply before leaving. Ichigo found it somewhat odd, but shrugged as he finished his toast and decided to wash the dishes instead of leaving them for later, as he had nothing else to do for a few hours.

* * *

After about an hour, Rukia had returned with shopping bags and made Ichigo help her put everything away. Two more hours and Renji returned as well, and the three attempted once more to watch television with the redhead playing the role of the translator.

"Alright, she's saying how the guy won't ever feel fulfilled if he doesn't win this race-"

"What race?"

"They were talking about a race just before. Anyway-"

"Why didn't you translate that part?"

"Because-"

"Renji, what's he saying now?"

"Alright, that's enough!" Renji snapped, turning the television off as Rukia snickered behind her hand. "You two just make the whole translating thing impossible. Why didn't you just learn Spanish before coming here?"

"That probably would have been a good idea. The cashier looked at me funny when I tried to pronounce what you wrote on the shopping list..."

"Jeez, both of you are hopeless!"

"Shouldn't there be some sort of subtitle setting?" Ichigo asked, squinting at the remote as if that would turn the tiny text on it to something he could read. Renji grabbed it and turned the TV back on, a settings menu popping up on the screen soon after. He scrolled through it for a few minutes before turning it back off, muttering that the only subtitle option was also in Spanish.

Checking his phone, Ichigo grimaced as he saw that it was only a little past 11 AM. Renji, realizing the three were basically out of things to do, got up and opened a closet door in the hallway, returning shortly after and setting a deck of cards on the coffee table as he sat down facing the couch.

"Know how to play Old Maid?"

Ichigo nodded at the same time Rukia expressed that she didn't know how, and him and Renji alternated explaining the rules as the redhead shuffled the deck. Ichigo hoped the card game would be entertaining enough to help him pass the time until Grimmjow would arrive at 2:30.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ichigo," Rukia called as he walked down the hall, "your phone rang while you were in the bathroom."

Upon hearing that, Ichigo picked up his pace back towards the coffee table to pick it up, shoulders dropping when he saw that he had a missed call from his father. As he tried to call him back, the device buzzed with a text.

12:47 PM  
How dare you ignore your father's calls?! I love you!

Ichigo sighed, trying once again to call him. Isshin's phone barely rang once before he picked it up, yelling a greeting that Ichigo had thankfully expected, as he had time to move the phone away from his face so he wouldn't risk losing his hearing.

"Alright, calm down. I wasn't ignoring you."

"How are you, Ichigo? How's Mexico?" his father's excited voice, still a little too loud for Ichigo's liking, asked.

"I'm f-"

"He found a boyfriend," Rukia commented, leaning close to Ichigo to be picked up by the phone.

"Rukia! I haven't even told my dad about... about _that_ yet!" Her eyes widened, and Ichigo saw guilt in them before his father responded.

"Is he treating you well?" The oddly serious voice all of a sudden startled Ichigo, but he was relieved his father didn't mind. Not that he seemed like the type to care about something like that, but Ichigo was a bit paranoid, since he'd already been bullied enough as a kid for being different.

"Yeah... wait, shit! No!"

"He's not?!"

"No, he is! He's just-"

"You'd better invite me to the wedding, then!"

"There's no wedding!"

"Oh, is gay marriage illegal in Mexico?"

"No, that's-! Well, I actually don't know, but-"

"You can just bring him here to get married!" Ichigo leaned his head back and gave a wordless shout.

"He's not my-"

"Well, I'll talk to you later, Ichigo! Bye!"

"-boy... fuck," Ichigo finished his sentence much softer than it had started out as he realized his father had already hung up.

"... Hang on, with the time difference..." Ichigo mused to himself, "Orihime said she was getting ready for bed at around seven-ish... what is it, like 2 AM over there?! What's he doing calling me at a time like that?!"

"He was probably worried about you," Renji offered, finally containing his giggle fit he'd been having through the call, "couldn't bear not to hear from you any longer or something. Speaking of..."

"Speaking of..?"

"When's your boyfriend picking you up, again?"

"He's not my boyfriend! ... And, 2:30 or so..."

"That's in a little while... think we have time for another round of Old Maid?"

As Ichigo was about to answer, his phone vibrated with another text.

12:53 PM  
I'm here early. You busy or anything?

"Or... right now, apparently," he corrected, hastily putting his phone in his pocket and making his way for the door. "See ya!"

"Have fun with your-"

Ichigo slammed the door before Renji could call Grimmjow his boyfriend one more time. He didn't understand, was he not allowed to have friends? Friends that, admittedly, happened to be very attractive? He didn't have to date every guy he interacted with...

Nearly tripping down the stairs more than once in his hurry to the parking lot, Ichigo finally got outside, ashamed that he was out of breath. He slowed his pace a bit as he walked over to the car he recognized as Grimmjow's, trying to catch his breath so the blue haired man wouldn't tease him about it.

"Sorry for being here so early," Grimmjow apologized, leaving Ichigo with a confused expression, "my buddies decided to go to the bar early and Lilynette's been calling me nonstop asking when I'm gonna be there, so I figure, you know... if it'll shut her up, no harm in going earlier than planned."

"Sure, I don't mind," Ichigo paused as he closed the car door, his breathing finally becoming more normal, "who's Lilynette, by the way?"

"Ehh, you'll meet her," he said, looking behind him as he pulled out of the parking spot.

"So, how many friends are there?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Just her and Starrk. Can't invite one of 'em without bringing the other."

"Are they a couple or something?" Ichigo wondered, heart nearly jumping out of his chest as Grimmjow practically slammed the breaks at a red light he'd apparently failed to notice early enough. Thankfully, no damage was done, but Ichigo was panting slightly once again.

"Be pretty weird if they were, Lilynette's 13."

"Oh, holy shit. What's she doing at a bar, then?"

"She's Starrk's little sister. Goes everywhere with him, like I said. She's used to bars, and bartenders 'n shit are used to her by now. 'Mozzarella sticks and a 7-Up for me!' she always says."

Ichigo snickered at Grimmjow's impersonation of a 13 year old girl.

"Starrk himself is a lazy bastard, I'm surprised he ever leaves the house. He loves his little sister, though, and she loves spending time with him. 'Specially outside. Even if he wanted to come out on his own, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to hire a sitter to watch her, I bet."

"Makes me feel kind of like a bad brother... I was never that worried about my sisters."

"You got sisters?"

"Yeah, Yuzu and Karin. Both younger. They're... shit, how old are they? Sixteen or seventeen now? They're twins, so they're both the same age, at least, but it just seems hard to believe they're not little kids anymore. Hard to keep track."

"Huh. I'm an only child, far as I know. Which isn't that far." Ichigo tilted his head.

"What do you mean?" At that, Grimmjow clicked his tongue and sighed, leaning back in his seat and driving with only one hand as he ran the other through his hair.

"I wasn't old enough to remember my mom when she died, then my dad started running around sleeping with anything that moved to try and fill the void or whatever. He was ok, I guess. Not abusive or anything, but he was barely ever around between that and work. Had to learn how to start takin' care of my self pretty early on. I don't think he ever even noticed I left. Sure hasn't called."

Ichigo would have given Grimmjow a look of pity if he could bring himself to look at him at all. He remembered the call his own father had given him just prior to the blue haired man picking him up, recalling the fact that he rarely ever told his father he loved him back. Feeling sentimental, he contemplated texting him just that once he was awake, which Ichigo had no idea when that would be. It would probably be late enough in the day to call him when it was night for Ichigo, he figured.

"We're here," Grimmjow said, interrupting Ichigo's thoughts, "don't let that shit ruin your mood or anything. Come on."

As soon as the two walked through the door to the bar, a high pitched voice yelled Grimmjow's name. Ichigo looked around until he saw a little girl with green hair sitting in a booth with a small plate of mozzarella sticks in front of her, waving her arms. They glanced at each other before walking towards her, and once they were close enough, Ichigo noticed there was a man with wavy brown hair who had his head on the table.

"This one's Starrk, I guess?" Starrk raised his hand in response. Lilynette pulled his hair to raise his head as well, and Starrk took his time opening his eyes.

He said something in Spanish at Grimmjow, gently batting his little sister's hand away and changing his position slightly, resting his chin on crossed arms instead of having his forehead flat on the table.

"Ichigo. I've told you about him, but you were probably half-asleep. Fuckin' shocker. He also doesn't know Spanish, idiot didn't learn any before coming here."

"Hey! It's not like I came here just because, I was accompanying a close friend who hadn't flown before, with the added bonus that I'd be reunited with _another_ close friend!"

"And find a boyfriend!" Lilynette added, and Ichigo almost yelled at her, before he stopped himself.

"He's, uh... he's not- Grimmjow, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Huh? What do you want me to say?" he asked, patting the space next to him expectantly. Ichigo sighed and procrastinated sitting next to him, wondering if the blue haired man just didn't mind the teasing as much as Ichigo did, or if it was the idea he didn't mind. He had called Ichigo- what was it? "The most attractive person I've seen in a while," or something along those lines? Ichigo could admit, though only to himself, that he shared a similar sentiment.

"I'll, uh... I'll get some drinks. What do you want?"

"Strawberry sunrise-"

"Ask them to leave the strawberry on the side for me!" Lilynette interrupted her brother, who didn't seem to mind in the slightest.

"Jack and Coke for me," Grimmjow said, and Ichigo nodded and walked over to the bar, shrugging slightly as he failed to think of any particular drink he himself wanted, figuring he'd order the same. He mentally swore as he ordered, realizing for the hundredth time that he was in Mexico and the bartender probably didn't speak Japanese, but he was proven wrong as the woman nodded and got the ingredients out. After waiting a few minutes for their drinks, he headed back, curiously sniffing the fruity cocktail Starrk had ordered before sliding it over to him and handing the strawberry to Lilynette.

"What, we get the same thing? Little copycat," the blue haired man teased as Ichigo sat down next to him.

"Couldn't think of anything else I wanted. Usually I just drink beer at home, and kinda rarely at that. I'm not an expert on all the different kinds of drinks."

"All you gotta know is that cocktails are the best," Lilynette said, despite the fact that she'd (hopefully) never tried one. Ichigo assumed she only said that because it was probably Starrk's preference.

"I mean, she's right," Grimmjow agreed, scoffing as Lilynette held her hand out for a high-five, somewhat reluctantly meeting her hand. The sound startled her brother out of his daze, who took a sip of his drink before pushing it away slightly and resting his head again. Ichigo took a sip of his own as well, a bit startled by the taste.

"Glad the bartender speaks Japanese, at least," Ichigo commented, feeling bad for his hypothetical self in an alternate universe where she didn't and he had to deal with the embarrassment of that whole situation.

"I wouldn't have let you order our drinks if I didn't know she did. I literally just fucking said you can't speak Spanish."

"Doesn't mean it's not still convenient!" he argued, taking another, longer sip. Lilynette started talking Starrk's ear off, who barely grunted in response whenever she paused. Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at the situation just as Lilynette started talking about how she wanted Starrk to get her some candy on the way home, to which he grunted in a slightly more approving way than the other responses he'd given her.

"Must be pretty hard for Starrk," Ichigo whispered at Grimmjow, "having to worry about his little sister with the mob around, and all."

Grimmjow set his nearly empty drink down and seemed to lose himself in his thoughts for a moment before shrugging and nodding, rubbing at a spot just under his eye with his thumb.

"Not that worrying if you don't bug 'em, you know? They're not constantly out for blood or anything."

Ichigo was hesitant to accept the idea, but supposed it made sense. He saw movement in the corner of his eye and looked over to find Lilynette about to fall out of the booth as she tugged on Starrk's clothes to try to move him. She stopped trying so hard before letting go to ensure she didn't fall, which Ichigo gave a sigh of relief at. The day went on, and Ichigo and Grimmjow ordered a few more drinks, while Starrk never finished his first one, leaving a slight bit of liquid at the bottom of the glass.

"Guess it's better for him that he's not having a lot to drink," Ichigo supposed, "that way he can still drive home."

"Starrk doesn't drive usually, he'd fuckin' fall asleep at the wheel. He and Lilynette walk everywhere," Grimmjow explained.

"What, really? I hope they don't live too far, then, at least..."

"Nah, they live right around the corner. Usually, coming out with Starrk is great because he'll be too lazy to drink much of anything and can drive me home in my own car."

"Heh, convenient," Ichigo agreed, "but I'm a little worried about that falling asleep at the wheel thing. If all his little sister's energy can't wake him up, I don't know what could."

"I was joking. He's driven me home before. Guy's responsible enough to know when not to nod off. He's probably one of my best friends, so I trust the guy."

"What's probably mean?" Starrk mumbled, catching Ichigo off guard with actual words rather than tired grunts.

"Doesn't mean shit, don't worry about it. You drivin' us home?"

"Sure..." he said, sighing deeply as he moved to get out of the booth, Lilynette jumping out of the way before he could bother to ask her to.

"Are we stopping on the way to drop you off at your buddy's place?" Grimmjow asked, finishing off his last drink before he stood up with Ichigo, who contemplated the question.

"I guess, sure. Renji and Rukia would tease me endlessly if I stayed the night with you again."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, they keep, uh... they'd insist I slept with you."

"We can, if you want," he offered, very nonchalantly at that.

"Wh-what? Uh, no..."

"Don't seem too sure, huh?" Grimmjow smiled this time, and the two of them quickly dropped the subject when Lilynette asked what they were talking about. The drive home was mostly uneventful, it would be silent if the little girl's talking had ever ceased. Ichigo joked to Grimmjow that she must have stolen all of Starrk's energy, to which Grimmjow scoffed and agreed.

"You know, the Arrancars really aren't as bad as you keep thinking," the blue haired man spoke up somewhere along the ride. "It's those Soul Reapers that are worse."

"Soul Reapers? How many mobs are there?" Ichigo asked.

"Not a mob, they're some kind of task force or something. The task being getting rid of the Arrancars, which they're doing a shit job at."

"What makes them worse, though? Just being bad at their jobs?" Grimmjow paused for a moment, leaning in and lowering his voice so the two up front couldn't hear him.

"Some guy in a weird getup and a straw hat suspected Starrk of being an Arrancar once, and because he was half-asleep, as usual, he couldn't defend himself against the drunken accusations the guy was throwing at him. Fucker pulled out a gun and nearly shot him, right in front of Lilynette. She had to scream at the guy to cut that shit out. Lucky she wasn't traumatized, she was even younger back then."

Ichigo's eyes widened at the story, legitimately shocked.

"Why would they even suspect Starrk of being an Arrancar? The guy's too lazy to exist, much less be in a mob!" Grimmjow laughed.

"True, but this guy was drunk and somehow convinced of it. I don't know what the fuck he was thinking, I only heard the story through Starrk himself."

"That's awful, though..."

"Even the police don't really give a shit about the Soul Reapers. They try to say they're neutral when it comes to the whole mob thing, but it's rumored that the head sheriff or whatever the hell that guy would be called has a thing for the mob boss."

"This whole mob situation is surreal..."

"You'll get used to it. Or move back to Japan first, either one." Ichigo found himself grateful at the reminder that he wasn't going to live in Mexico for the rest of his life. He sincerely hoped he would get used to it like Grimmjow said, however, because he still had no idea when he was moving back. Renji had been there for about two years, after all; it was very possible Rukia would have to stay a long time as well.

Starrk had taken a wrong turn on the way to Renji's apartment complex, but otherwise arrived with no problem, giving Ichigo a lazy wave before resting his entire arm on the wheel during the short time he no longer had to drive. Ichigo waved back, saying goodbye to the three of them as they drove off again.

Ichigo pulled out his phone to check the time as he walked up the stairs to Renji's apartment, seeing that it was a little past 6 PM. Upon entering the apartment, he expected to be assaulted with questions like before, but Rukia calmly greeted him and Renji asked if he already had dinner or if he would be eating with the two of them. Pleasantly surprised at the lack of teasing, Ichigo agreed to eat with his friends, considering for a brief moment that eating could lessen his possible hangover in the morning, but then realized the conversation with Grimmjow on the ride back had already sobered him up plenty.

After dinner, Ichigo got changed into his night clothes and attempted to sleep, occasionally turning the television on for a short while and then back off when it didn't help. Unable to get the mob situation out of his head, Ichigo wondered if he should want to know more or much, much less. He could only hope his slight bit of knowledge didn't put him or his friends in danger.


	7. Chapter 7

After having called his father with the question of his sisters' ages as an excuse to talk to him again- which turned out to be eighteen and not one or two years younger like he'd guessed- Ichigo eventually found it within him to sleep. He had a surprisingly dreamless night, considering the intimidating things he'd been learning about. Then again, there's no such thing as a dreamless night, only dreams you can't remember.

Upon waking up, Ichigo still felt the stress that was keeping him up for so long the previous night. It was already 9:13 AM, his phone said.

"Mornin', sleeping beauty," Renji greeted, "Rukia's out. Training a client."

"Why do you two always have early morning clients?" Ichigo asked through a yawn, cracking his neck as he got up and walked to the kitchen.

"Not just morning clients. We've had a few while you were hanging out with your boyfriend, too."

"I thought you two were done with the whole boyfriend thing. Got my hopes up," he complained, earning a smile out of Renji as he sat across from him at the kitchen table.

"Why'd you sleep in so late, anyway? Plus, you still look tired. You're not exactly a morning person, but it's easy to tell when you didn't get enough sleep." Leave it to his best friend to notice something like that.

"Couldn't sleep last night. I, uh..." Ichigo hesitated, trying to decide if he should tell Renji about the story Grimmjow had told him, "just... couldn't sleep."

"Huh? Come on, what's on your mind? I already said you can tell me anything, remember?" Ichigo took a deep breath as he tried to remember all the details.

"Alright, well... you know there's a mob around, right?" Renji's face darkened and Ichigo figured the strange look in his eyes was something akin to guilt for not telling him.

"Yeah... I kinda hoped you wouldn't find out about that, but I guess it had to happen eventually. Worried about them?"

"Actually, not all that much. Turns out, there's a group that might be worse," Ichigo was really beginning to want to punch himself in the mouth, as it might seem strange for him to oppose what was meant to be considered good.

"Worse? How can any group be worse than a _mob_?" His tone was amused, but Renji's eyes still looked strange to Ichigo.

"Well... alright, hear me out," Ichigo started, finally deciding how to tell the story, "when I went to the bar with Grimmjow yesterday, he brought two of his friends. Starrk, a really lazy but nice guy who looked to be in his... I don't know, mid, maybe late twenties? Him and his little 13 year old sister, Lilynette."

"What was a 13 year old doing at a bar?"

"Yeah, that's what I asked at first, too. Turns out they're inseperable. Even as lazy as Starrk is, he goes everywhere with Lilynette and does everything she wants, and she really loves spending time with him. Grimmjow said you can't invite one anywhere without inviting the other."

"Cute," Renji scoffed.

"Heh. Well, Grimmjow told me that, for some reason, a drunk guy once suspected Starrk of being in the mob. He approached him and started throwing what Grimmjow called 'drunken accusations' at him, and then apparently pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, with Lilynette right there. Starrk was half-asleep and couldn't really defend himself, and Lilynette was freaking out trying to get the guy to cut it out and not shoot who I'd guess is the only family she's got. This was probably a few years ago or so, since Grimmjow said she was even younger back then." Ichigo took a moment to catch his breath.

"Wow... and he was in some rival mob or something? This group you were talking about?"

"Not a mob, they're supposed to be the good guys. Soul Reapers, Grimmjow said they were called."

There was a full minute of silence as that look in Renji's eyes hardened. Ichigo was about to ask what was wrong when the redhead finally spoke up.

"Guess there's no point in hiding it any longer, if you're convinced of something like that. We, Rukia and I... we're Soul Reapers." Ichigo's eyes widened. "Now, don't freak out, because your friend probably hasn't had much experience with Soul Reapers, anyway. He's probably biased against them because of one drunk guy. I mean, it's impossible for everyone in a group to be saints, and it's definitely possible the Soul Reaper had reason to suspect whatever guy you're talking about."

"I met the guy! Not only is he a good guy, but he'd be too lazy to be involved with that mob crap anyway! His little sister almost had to watch him get shot for no reason, Renji!"

"But she didn't." To say Ichigo was astounded would be an understatement.

"You don't think a drunk stranger waving a gun in such a little kid's only guardian's face is a traumatizing experience, whether he got shot or not?!"

"Look, you weren't even there. Maybe-"

"Bullshit, maybe! There's no maybe!"

" _Maybe_ the guy had a good reason to suspect him, like I said. Or it was the alcohol talking-"

"If a guy can't control himself under the influence, maybe don't hire him in the first place! Shouldn't that be in his resume or something?! Or at least take his gun away!"

"Look, I can't really defend a guy I don't know, so I'll give you this one. Alright? Now, I want you to know that Rukia and I aren't like that. You understand that, right?" Ichigo gave an angry huff.

"I know... at least, I think I do. You did lie to me about your jobs, after all. I bet Rukia's out there investigating the mob instead of training a client, isn't she? ... Wait a minute, that's why you guys have been so alright with not having me around! And I felt so guilty for running off with a new friend and not spending enough time with my old friends! Shit, this is the reason Rukia said I couldn't come with her in the first place! I was wondering why she wouldn't explain that!"

"Alright, calm down. You're, uh, not completely wrong, but now that you know, it's fine to let you in on some of that stuff. Now we don't have to lie to you anymore, which quite frankly is a relief. I'm actually kinda surprised you never suspected we weren't actually personal trainers before."

"Excuse me for trusting my best friends."

"At least you still consider us your best friends, huh?" Renji joked, sounding quite half-hearted. "... You do, right?"

Ichigo paused with a hard look in his eyes before conceding, "Yeah, whatever. You guys have been assholes before, I guess this is just the next step in douchebaggery."

"Hey! It's not like I wanted to lie! Neither of us did! It's top secret stuff. Even now, I can't tell you anything no matter how much I'd like to!"

"I said, whatever! I believe you, alright?"

"You don't sound like you believe me at all." Ichigo wondered if he should even argue, or rather, if arguing would just be lying. He took in a breath before abandoning it and standing up.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, walking to the door at a pace quicker than leisurely. He noticed Renji didn't try to stop him, but he often didn't when Ichigo would storm out of whatever building or room they happened to be in whenever they argued. Pulling out his phone, Ichigo texted Grimmjow to ask if he could stay with him for a night or two. Not feeling like sharing the details, he simply said he got into an argument with the guy he was staying with and needed time away from his stubborn ass to get over it. It quickly buzzed with the blue haired man's response.

9:31 AM  
Stubborn ass, huh? Sounds like someone I know. I'll come pick you up.

Ichigo contemplated telling Grimmjow he didn't have to drive all that way for him, since he figured walking would help him let off steam anyway, but decided against it as subtle payback. No way in Hell was he walking all the way to the fucker's house after an underhanded insult like that. That, as well as the fact that Ichigo didn't exactly memorize the way to Grimmjow's house, and didn't have his address in his GPS like Renji's.

Taking his time exiting the building after he was out of Renji's apartment, Ichigo eventually made it to the parking lot and sat down in front of the building. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he waited for what he assumed would be the longest half hour of his life for Grimmjow to come pick him up.


	8. Chapter 8

After finally arriving, Grimmjow snorted as Ichigo opened the car door.

"What?" he asked as he sat down and closed the door behind him.

"Forget to change out of your pyjamas, huh?" Ichigo looked down, realizing he was right.

"Whatever... I'll just, uh... well, hopefully we don't have to go anywhere."

"Wanna borrow one of my outfits?"

"And forget not to bring it home, which would result in _more_ teasing about you being my boyfriend? I'll pass."

"Whatever you say," he mumbled, pulling out of the parking spot, "so what did you two fight about?"

Ichigo was silent for about a minute, trying to decide if it was worth telling Grimmjow about.

"Alright, fuck ya then," he said, snapping Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"No, I was just, uh... trying to figure out how to word it," Ichigo finally responded, "basically, I told him about what happened with Starrk and Lilynette and he tried to side with the Soul Reaper. Then he kind of told me he and Rukia were Soul Reapers all along."

"Shit, you didn't tell him you're not a fan of them, did you? Might very well get killed just for having some sense," Grimmjow joked- or at least, Ichigo hoped he was joking.

"Jeez, they're more like the mobs I've heard about than the actual mob is. I just hope my best friend doesn't rat me out to them."

"Eh, they don't seem to actually care much about neutral parties," he said, drawing a relieved sigh from Ichigo, "unless you start making it seem like you really oppose them, you should be fine. I'm pretty open about my opinions on Soul Reapers and I'm obviously still alive."

"Pretty reassurring, I guess. I just..." Ichigo held his head, feeling frustrated again, "I can't believe they both lied to me for so long. I can't imagine Renji came here two years ago for any reason but work so it's been going on since at _least_ then. Two whole years or even more, just lying to me constantly without a care."

"Probably didn't want you to get involved. That's good for me, since I probably wouldn't fuck a Soul Reaper."

"Y-you're not fucking me anyway!" Ichigo reminded, earning a smile from the blue haired man.

"No? Guess we'll give it a little while," Grimmjow teased, with Ichigo refusing to respond any further. After a few minutes of silence, conversation started up again. They talked about everything from the recent news Ichigo wouldn't have been able to hear firsthand to delving back into the 'would you rather' questions from the day they met.

"I'm telling you, not having to eat is way better than having everything taste good," Grimmjow insisted as the two got out of the car once they'd finally arrived at his home.

"What planet are you from? Just what kind of weird alien would you have to be to actually think having literally everything taste good isn't better than never eating again?"

"You're the weird alien, eating's a pain in the ass."

"Yeah, but you could just chew on a piece of cardboard or something and it'd be delicious!" Grimmjow laughed as Ichigo realized that what he said sounded a bit silly.

"You chewing on cardboard often, Ichigo?" he asked, placing his key in the lock of the front door before the smile fell off his face and he swore under his breath. Without turning the key, he took it out and opened the door, which had apparently been unlocked. Upon walking in, Ichigo saw a hand raise from the couch.

"Hey Grimmjow," a voice he didn't recognize greeted, the owner of it taking his time sitting up from his laying position before turning his head to look behind him, "who's the carrot top?"

"This idiot's Ichigo," he answered, gesturing to the 'carrot top' in question.

"Hey!"

"Why are you here? Need something or did Tesla finally kick you out?" Grimmjow asked, ignoring Ichigo as he kicked his shoes off, mumbling something about how he had to reinforce his locks.

"'S if he'd ever. He's out of the house, though. Figured I'd come bug you but you weren't home."

"So, uh, who is this?" Ichigo asked, tired of waiting to be introduced.

"Nnoitra. He's a locksmith, so he could probably break into anyone's place. I don't know why the fuck he only does it to me."

"You've got the best couch," he answered simply, still not moving from the piece of furniture.

"It is a pretty good couch," Ichigo agreed, having slept on it the other night. As he rounded the couch, he noticed Nnoitra had an eyepatch. "What, uh..."

"Don't ask," Grimmjow interrupted, "he changes the story every time so it's pointless anyway."

"Hey, not every time," Nnoitra argued, "how many times have I told the one where I fell out of a tree as a kid and saw that my eye had popped out and decided to eat it? More than once, right?"

"Wait, what? That's not actually what happened, is it?"

"Of course not," Grimmjow assured, scowling as Nnoitra said something to him in Spanish. The one eyed man stuck his tongue out at Grimmjow as the latter looked away.

"Wait, what's that on your tongue?" Ichigo asked, prompting Nnoitra to show it again. "Why a five?"

"Honestly? No fuckin' clue. Got it while I was drunk and it hurt like a bitch the next day. I don't recommend it."

"Better than getting it pierced," Grimmjow offered, "I hear it's easy to fuck it up and people get drooling problems for the rest of their lives."

"Even without that, I'm not gettin' it pierced. A tattoo and a piercing in the same spot seems like overkill." Nnoitra once again said something in Spanish to Grimmjow, causing the blue haired man to glare at him and shake his head, earning a smile. He said something else before turning to Ichigo.

"So, has he-"

"No, I just said I haven't," Grimmjow interrupted.

"Has he what?"

"Just ignore him."

"Has he fucked you yet?" Ichigo's face went red again and he stumbled over his words.

"No, uh, not yet- wait, shit! No, it's not like that! I meant- fuck!" Nnoitra laughed and Grimmjow scoffed as Ichigo tried his best to deny his slip of the tongue.

"Want a drink?" the blue haired man offered, to which Ichigo calmed down as he considered it.

"Only if you mean water. I've already been drinking more than usual lately."

"How old are you?" Nnoitra asked, taking that moment to rest his feet on the coffee table.

"Twenty two... Rukia's only a few months older than me, but Renji's 26-"

"I didn't ask," Nnoitra interjected, "I don't even know who you're talkin' about."

"I'm just saying that I'm used to having friends who are a little older than me, is all!"

"How old do I look?" Ichigo paused at that, wondering if he should make a joke or an actual estimate.

"I don't know... 27 or so?" he guessed, going with the latter option.

"You're a year off," he informed, "I'm 28. How 'bout Grimmjow? Or did he already tell you how old he is?"

"No, uh..." Ichigo paused for longer this time, genuinely considering it.

"Twenty five," Grimmjow answered for him.

"What, really? You're younger than Renji?"

"Still haven't actually met that guy, but sure."

"Oh, I'll have to introduce- well..." Ichigo stopped himself, considering recent events, "I guess we'll see how the situation sorts itself out first."

"What situation?" After having asked that question, Nnoitra's phone silently lit up on the coffee table with a text that Ichigo couldn't read. He picked it up as Ichigo took his time answering.

"I kind of got into an argument with the guy I'm staying with, who also happens to be my best friend-"

"Who also happens to be a Soul Reaper," Grimmjow informed. This brought the one eyed man's gaze up from his phone and over to his younger friend.

"Did you tell him about the one that almost shot Starrk?"

"Yeah, that's actually how the argument started," Ichigo confirmed, "he was saying how the guy probably had a reason to point a gun at him despite the fact that a little kid was there."

"Do you hate him now?" the blue haired man asked, catching Ichigo off guard with the question.

"No, I don't."

"Answered that pretty quickly, huh?" he noted.

"Well, he and Rukia are still my best friends. I can't hate them. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to forgive them yet, is all," he mused, suddenly wondering if he was blowing the situation out of proportion. That thought crossing his mind probably meant he was a step closer to forgiving them, he figured.

"Softie," Nnoitra commented, drawing another scoff from Grimmjow.

"Like you're one to talk. I saw how you got when Tesla lost his eye-"

"Shut your filthy mouth," he commanded, tone strangely even for how angry his words appeared.

"You mentioned that guy before, too. Who's Tesla?" At Ichigo's question, Nnoitra set his phone back down.

"Mine is who he is," he answered, "and he's just now gettin' home from a work thing, so I'll get goin'. But Grimmjow..."

The blue haired man waited for Nnoitra to continue. When he didn't, he sighed and gave a grunt in response.

"Wanna place a bet?" he asked, switching to Spanish mid-sentence and effectively confusing Ichigo. Grimmjow laughed and responded before pointing to the front door.

"Wait, what are you betting on?" Ichigo asked, looking between the two for an answer from either.

"Don't worry about it," they answered in almost perfect synchronization. As Nnoitra finally left, Ichigo turned to Grimmjow.

"You don't have a gambling problem or anything, do you?"

"No, idiot, it was a joke. No matter which one of us wins the bet, we never actually go through with the payment."

"Then what's the point of making a bet in the first place?"

"Just some friendly competition," Grimmjow interrupted himself with a small gasp as he walked over to the television Ichigo had never seen turned on until that point, "I just remembered. I don't play a lot of video games but I got this for when my niece came over about half a year ago. She got some shitty minigolf game that she made me play with her, figured we could waste some time on that instead of sitting around doing nothing all day."

"Minigolf? That's probably the last type of game I'd expect you to play, but sure. I'll kick your ass at it," he challenged, watching the console's startup screen before the game was selected from a menu.

"I haven't exactly practiced since then, so we'll probably be at about the same level. Only thing I remember is that you absolutely wanna do hold and release, not three clicks."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that you have to exit the game to change the settings and I didn't feel like doing that, so an 8 year old beat me because I couldn't fucking hit the ball right." Ichigo laughed as he accepted the controller Grimmjow handed to him.

"That was nice of you to give yourself a handicap for her," he said, "unless you were just that bad at the game."

"No way, I'll kick your ass now that I know which controls actually fucking work." With that, Grimmjow quickly went through his settings before getting up to retrieve drinks for the two of them- _water_ rather than alcohol as he remembered Ichigo said he wasn't going to drink that day.

"So how do you have a niece if you said you were an only child?" Ichigo asked while they waited for the loading screen once the game had started.

"Complicated. My dad's got a brother who has an adopted daughter who has her own kid, and that's my niece. Well, that's what I call her at least."

"Sounds like a complicated family tree."

"Yeah, it's a real piece of shit," Grimmjow paused with a scoff, "like that shot you just made."

"Oh, shut up! I let go by accident!" Ichigo insisted, watching the virtual ball slowly roll in front of his character. It took him a few turns to get the hang of how the power system worked, but he did somewhat well once he figured it out. The two of them were tied most of the way, both ending up in the positives on the overall scoreboard since Ichigo had never played before and Grimmjow was out of practice.

They played nine holes at a time until they'd exhausted all of the game's courses, and the winner of each round kept alternating between the two of them. Ichigo almost gave into the temptation of a celebratory drink when he'd beaten Grimmjow in the overall score by just 3 points. With the promise of checking out the map editor later on, they finally set the game down and started deciding on what to eat. The topic of food brought Renji to Ichigo's mind and he quickly pushed that thought away, intent on not letting it bother him for the rest of the day, no matter how uncertain he was about doing so. His Soul Reaper friends were probably relieved as always to have him out of the apartment, anyway.


	9. Intermission - Alternate Viewpoints

as the chapter name implies, this is a short bit that does not particularly advance the story; instead showing how three scenes would have been written from someone other than ichigo's point of view for the sake of exposition.

while this does not count as a full chapter, i will not be labeling chapters after this one as a number earlier than they appear to be (ie: 10 as 9, 11 as 10, etc)

* * *

 _"Oh, right, be careful," Ichigo warned, his voice suddenly a bit more serious, "there's a mob around, I heard."_

 _Rukia stopped in her tracks, wondering how Ichigo could have found out about the Arrancars already. She'd been hoping to keep him ignorant about both the mob and the organization she belonged to for as long as possible for his own safety. If he already knew about the Arrancars, it would only be fair to tell him about the Soul Reapers, perhaps assure him of his safety, perhaps finally be able to stop lying to the boy right to his face._

 _However, her brother's cold eyes flashed in her mind, a subtle reminder of what happened the last time she revealed she was a Soul Reaper to someone. The man she'd told, the man she had attempted to save from the very group he was a member of, had tried to reveal her Soul Reaper status to his superior. Said superior apparently only heard the name Kuchiki and had given Byakuya trouble instead of Rukia, leading her to come home to her brother standing over several corpses. It had been the first and last time she'd directly told anyone of her Soul Reaper status._

 _"Thanks for the warning," she said simply, nearly struggling to get her voice above a mutter. Maybe she should have been a little more insistent on not letting Ichigo travel with her. Rukia had allowed her own emotions and attachments get in the way and she was sure to regret it._

* * *

 _"Does he know?" Starrk asked, gently batting his little sister's hand away and changing his position slightly, resting his chin on crossed arms instead of having his forehead flat on the table. It would have been a foolish thing to say, had the man not obviously assumed Ichigo didn't know Spanish as he'd asked who Starrk was in Japanese. The man really was smarter than he let on, but Grimmjow would have to chastise him for the risk at some point in the future regardless._

 _"Ichigo. I've told you about him, but you were probably half-asleep. Fuckin' shocker. He also doesn't know Spanish, idiot didn't learn any before coming here," Grimmjow replied, figuring the cover answer to a question Starrk hadn't asked would answer his real question. While Ichigo was getting flustered, he probably hadn't noticed the look Starrk gave Grimmjow; something akin to a warning gently mixed in with a slight bit of pity in his nearly dead eyes, lightless from how tired the man always was._

* * *

 _"I'm going for a walk," Ichigo said, walking to the door at a pace quicker than leisurely. Renji didn't try to stop him, as he usually didn't whenever Ichigo would storm out during one of their arguments. The story he'd told bothered Renji, however, and he abandoned the idea of breakfast as he retreated to his room and opened the laptop sitting on his desk- it was really slow now, really needed to be replaced soon._

 _He opened the control panel and went into folder options, checking the box to show hidden files and effectively filling Renji's nearly empty documents folder with enough files to make the scrollbar on it rather small. It was easy to tell which reports were his own, as he never bothered keeping unzipped copies for when he zipped his files to send to the Soul Society, however, this barely narrowed down the amount of files he had to look through. He sifted through the folders for a while before he finally remembered which code was used for the Hueco Mundo reports, opening one of the less recent folders and opening each text file to skim for any mentions of bars- since the Soul Reaper was drunk, Ichigo had said- or pulling a gun on someone suspicious._

 _As he thought, the story rang a bell for a reason. After a few minutes, Renji came across the report from Shunsui Kyoraku concerning a prime suspect among those suspected of being Arrancars. His suspicions were dropped after feigning drunkenness in order to gauge the man's reaction. He, like most normal people, was very confused and at an utter loss for words as a little girl who had been accompanying him fervently denied the accusations in the man's place. Kyoraku had taken the gun out with the safety on, just to see if the man would pull out a gun of his own. When he didn't, nor did he attempt to take the little girl hostage or otherwise take any threatening actions, Kyoraku decided the man wasn't guilty and signalled for Nanao to come in and apologize for him, "dragging" him out of the bar._

 _His curiosity piqued, Renji looked through some more files in search of information on the suspect in question- Starrk, he assumed, as that was what Ichigo was calling him. He didn't have any success in the report files and went to look through the separate folders they had for suspects. Unable to find any variation of how he would assume "Starrk" was spelled, he reluctantly closed the window and disabled viewing of hidden files once more. Renji guessed Kyoraku vouching for Starrk's innocence led to him being removed from the list of suspects, but that also didn't make an overabundance of sense to the redhead. Kyoraku was a trusted superior, true, but even Yamamoto himself was capable of making mistakes. If Kyoraku had been wrong about Starrk, no longer having his file would be an inconvenience._

 _Renji gently rubbed at his temples, wishing he didn't always lazily accept and replace the entire suspect files every time there was an update as opposed to keeping his own older copies. If he remembered, he'd start that trend starting from the next update._


	10. Chapter 10

After having stayed up entirely too long with Grimmjow the previous night, Ichigo found himself awake without realizing he'd even fallen asleep in the first place. He looked around to see light flooding into the house through the windows and picked up his phone from the coffee table to see it was already almost noon.

He slowly stood up from the couch, stretching as he grimaced and realized he'd slept on his neck wrong, as it was a bit sore. It didn't bother him too much, however, and Ichigo made his way to the bathroom he'd discovered the location of during his first visit to Grimmjow's house. As he approached the door, it opened before Ichigo's hand could reach the knob, hitting him with hot air. Ichigo found himself frozen in place as Grimmjow stepped out with a towel around his waist, hair still dripping as he began to make his way past Ichigo and towards his room before stopping and turning to him.

"Finally awake, huh?" he said more than asked, flicking a drop of water off of his hair as it threatened to drip onto him. "My offer to borrow one of my outfits still stands, you know."

Ichigo stood, still frozen and barely able to see the blue haired man within his peripheral vision, which hadn't moved at all. He sincerely hoped the heat that seemed to be radiating off of his face was just from the steam that was eagerly escaping the confines of the bathroom it had been trapped in. Grimmjow walked closer until he was barely a foot away from Ichigo.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked, finally bringing Ichigo's attention from the empty bathroom back over to him.

"Uh, no thanks. I'll just... shower when I get back to Renji's place..."

"Does that mean you're going back today?" Ichigo paused, realizing he hadn't decided when he was going back yet as well as the fact that he could use a shower. Rubbing a spot above his eye, Ichigo sighed.

"Alright, fine, I'll borrow one of your outfits," he conceded, drawing a scoff out of Grimmjow. The man then continued walking to his room, returning soon after with a bundle of clothes without bothering to put his own clothes on first. Ichigo accepted the pile, once again unable to look at him.

"Hey, take a glance in the mirror, huh?" Grimmjow suggested with a smile before leaving again, causing Ichigo to rush into the bathroom and check his reflection, rubbing the condensation away with his hand as he noticed his face was as red as he'd feared. Swearing under his breath, he closed the door and turned the water on before undressing, stopping on his way to the shower to walk back and lock the door for good measure.

* * *

After a shower and awkwardly quiet breakfast, Ichigo finally found it in himself to speak up again. During his time alone with his thoughts in the shower, he'd remembered a few things he wanted to ask Grimmjow about.

"So, uh," he started, "what happened to the blond guy from the diner?"

"Yylfordt? Nothin' happened. Why, you got a thing for him?"

"No, I just never really talked to him... plus, I think I'd like to find out more about his brother you were telling me about. Think I could-"

"You don't wanna meet Szayel," Grimmjow interrupted, "guy's a freak. Like, he makes cool shit and all, but he's still a weirdo."

"Mad scientist, huh?" Ichigo joked, receiving a nod in response as Grimmjow closed his eyes and cracked his right wrist.

"What's with you suddenly wanting to meet all my friends, anyway? Your buddies were saying you weren't social or whatever, weren't they?"

"Well, it's just like I told them. It's been a while and I think it'd be good to make some new friends, especially since I've only got two from my hometown here."

"How many you got at home? Are they all Soul Reapers?" Ichigo grimaced.

"God, I hope not. But, uh... jeez, probably more than I can remember off the top of my head-"

"Brag about it."

"Well, how many friends do you have?" Ichigo countered, watching Grimmjow pause before he shrugged.

"Fair enough, go on," he allowed, causing Ichigo to smile and shake his head slightly.

"Let's see... besides Rukia and Renji, who are here, I've got three people who I see more often than the rest: Orihime, Uryu, and Chad. Besides them, I've got a bunch more, most of which I met through the rest of my friends. One of them is actually watching the apartment I shared with Rukia, and he's probably been taking the liberty of inviting his boyfriend over, so technically two of them."

"So you two shared an apartment, but you're not together? Did it not work out or somethin'?" Grimmjow asked, earning a defeated sigh.

"We were never into each other. Just, you know, good friends. Rukia's got an older brother who's kinda... well, I'll admit he's scary. I wanted to move out from my parents' house, and Rukia said she wanted to move away from her brother, so we just stayed together."

"Living with someone you're not dating's gotta be a pretty big cockblock, huh?" The question caught Ichigo off guard, and his mouth hung open for a moment as Grimmjow chuckled at his speechlessness.

"I-I mean, it never really, uh... became relevant. The one guy I dated, I went over to his house. Well, I guess it wasn't really dating... kind of a one night stand," Ichigo admitted, feeling his face beginning to warm up again.

"Was that when you found out you were gay?" He contemplated it for a moment, thinking back to figure out if it were true or not.

"I think I realized it a little before then..." Ichigo took a deep breath as he continued thinking. "Oh yeah, right! The whole reason we got together is because Shiro overheard me coming out to Rukia-"

"Wait, Shiro?" Grimmjow interrupted, looking surprised. "That wouldn't happen to be Shiro Zangetsu?"

"Yeah, how did you know? Do you two know each other or something?" Grimmjow laughed suddenly and Ichigo wondered if he was missing something obvious.

"I can't fucking believe this! You've dated _one_ guy and he's my fuckin' ex, too!"

"Holy shit, really?" Ichigo couldn't help the amused smile that found its way on his face, finding the coincidence unbelievably strange.

"Actually, the only reason he's my ex is because of his brother, Tensa. The guy had somethin' against me and made us stop seeing each other. I rarely ever find Shiro these days, but we're still on good terms and all. And if his brother's not with him when I do find him, we end up in bed again."

"Alright, this is bordering on too much information," Ichigo said, earning another laugh. "Man, I can't believe this... wait, how long ago were you with Shiro?"

Grimmjow thought for a moment before answering, "Eh, few years ago. Seems like just the other day, though. Guess he must travel a lot, that'd explain why I rarely ever see him."

"And I was with him a year ago... funny, it seems like it was a lot longer for me. There's probably some kind of psychology behind that or something."

"Szayel would probably know. Oh yeah, I don't think I ever told you. Remember that permanent dye I said he made?" He waited for Ichigo to nod before he continued. "Well, he didn't exactly make it just for me. Fucker dyed his hair pink."

Ichigo laughed and was then reminded of Yachiru, the young niece of one of Ikkaku's scarier friends, Kenpachi. He began telling Grimmjow about the little girl's pranks and antics, and the two were once again losing track of time as they did nothing but talk to each other. The one phone call Ichigo had received from Rukia during that time had been passive aggressively ignored, figuring he could just call her back when he was on his way home either that day or the next. To be honest, however, Ichigo was beginning to feel as if he never wanted to leave.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, wait, you started living with what's her shit as soon you were finishing up college, right?" Grimmjow asked, bringing a frown to Ichigo's face.

"Rukia," Ichigo corrected, "and yeah, why? I thought we were done talking about college like half an hour ago."

"And how old are you?"

"Twenty two, and I just graduated from college almost a year ago. Like I said, I was gonna do med school, but my dad insisted on teaching me himself to save on time and money since he has his Ph.D., and he offered me a job to assist him in his hospital as a learning experience-"

"Yeah yeah, I get all that, but I'm thinkin' about Shiro again. You found out you were gay a year ago-"

"Little less than a year, actually."

"Less than a year?" Grimmjow adjusted his position on the couch to be sitting up and facing Ichigo rather than slouching next to him. "Alright, so, timeframes between now and those three events; graduating, realizing you're gay, sleeping with Shiro."

Ichigo blushed at the personal questions, but answered nonethless, "I found out I was gay about... 10 months ago? Then I started living with Rukia about a month later, graduated another month after that, then, uh... oh, right. We were going to kind of a goodbye party like a week after since a lot of us were graduating at the same time, and Rukia joked that maybe I'd find a girlfriend while I was there. That led to me coming out and once we got there, Shiro said he overheard on the way and, uh..."

"And what?"

"You know what..." Ichigo mumbled, blush deepening as he cursed himself for getting so easily flustered. Grimmjow laughed.

"Come on, I wanna know the details!"

"Well, how did you meet Shiro?" Ichigo countered, ignoring Grimmjow's request.

"Basically, I ended up meeting his dad during a work-related thing. His brother wasn't there to tell me to fuck off from the getgo, so we hit it off. So, hang on. Were you top or bottom?"

"W-what about you?" he asked, trying to avoid the question. Grimmjow smiled, undeterred.

"Top, obviously. Now how about you?" Ichigo remained silent, covering his face. "Bottom it is. Works out better for me, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?! A-and I didn't even answer! I could've been on top!" Ichigo insisted, uncovering his face to reveal the color hadn't gone down.

"You're forgetting I've slept with him, too. I know what he likes, and I know-"

Ichigo yelled over Grimmjow, covering his ears so as not to hear anything further. He waited a while to uncover them, looking over at Grimmjow, who was snickering at him.

"You're the type of guy he'd love to dominate-"

"Augh, I thought you were done!"

"-which is somethin' we've got in common." Ichigo swallowed at the confession. Or, was it really a confession if the man had been hinting at it for so long?

"How are you so open about this kind of thing?" Ichigo asked, incredulous.

"Well, it's better for you to know from the start, yeah?" Grimmjow shrugged. "'Sides, it's not like we absolutely have to fuck each other as soon as you find out. I've got as long as you wanna give me."

"I, uh..." Ichigo couldn't believe he was admitting it, "I'll think about it."

Grimmjow gave a little "heh" and Ichigo picked up his phone to distract himself with, contemplating calling Rukia back as he saw the missed call notification from her. He took a deep breath and looked back over at Grimmjow.

"I think I'll go back to Renji's place... it'll only be more of a pain in the ass the longer I put this off, I think," Ichigo informed, standing up.

"Want me to drive you?" Grimmjow offered, getting up with him and walking him to the front door. Ichigo thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nah, I've been sitting around too much recently and it's probably only like an hour walk. I don't need to be so out of shape that I'm panting after going down a few flights of stairs," Ichigo said, realizing a moment too late that what he'd said sounded more like an admission than a hypothetical situation.

"What, you don't want anything to do with me now?"

"Look, I'll call you or something later. Or you can call me, if you want. Just, uh... I'll see you later, alright?" Grimmjow seemed satisfied enough with the answer.

"Fine. If you're gonna be walking from now on, maybe I'll get you a spare key or somethin', huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't say from now on. I'll still sit around, just not as much," he joked, "but yeah, do that if it's not too much of a pain in the ass. See ya."

After saying their goodbyes, Ichigo left on his own- or at least, he attempted to before Grimmjow reminded him that his clothes were still there, which he then came back to retrieve before leaving for real. As he walked down the driveway, uninterrupted this time, he pulled out his phone again with his free hand and thought about calling Rukia once more. He decided against it, slowing his walking pace as he texted her instead.

6:02 PM  
Hey, I'm coming home. I want to talk to you and Renji about this Soul Reaper stuff, though.

He didn't bother putting his phone back in his pocket as he waited for Rukia's response, simply raising his gaze above it as he walked instead of getting it out of the way. As he expected, the device buzzed in his hand almost immediately.

6:03 PM  
Ok.

Wow, what an asshole. Ichigo pushed the insulting thought to the back of his mind, waiting with his phone in his hand for another minute for a second response before giving up and putting it away.

* * *

Ichigo had kept a good, steady pace for the first half of his walk. He pulled his phone out once he reached the diner, which he considered to be somewhat of a half-way point, to notice it was already a few minutes past 7. He sighed, as he'd been hoping that the speed limit and traffic of a highly populated city like Hueco Mundo would have made the trip by car seem longer than it had to be. He glanced down at the GPS app on his phone and noticed he had to take a right soon, taking a deep breath as he sped up his pace. There hadn't been all that much traffic after all, as he didn't notice Renji nor Grimmjow ever come to a dead stop for anything more than red lights and stop signs. They had just been slow rides due to the sheer amount of cars on the road, which Ichigo didn't fail to notice beside him.

What he also didn't fail to notice was the footsteps behind him. He hadn't realized they were there until they picked up their pace with him, but Ichigo didn't see anything in his peripheral when he turned his head. Strangely enough, he didn't hear the footsteps for as long as he kept his head turned, and then they continued once he looked forward again. That unsettled him deeply, and he finally remembered himself saying he was intimidated to go out alone at night. He made what he considered could have been a bad move in slowing down his pace slightly, which resulted in the other person slowing down as well.

Ichigo took a deep breath before running to the corner his GPS had told him to take a right at, quickly passing it and then looking over his shoulder as he retreated into an extremely convenient alleyway. Not seeing anyone, he took a step forward before bringing his gaze back in front of him, suddenly frozen in place at what he saw.

The stranger in front of him was wearing all white and didn't have much of his abdomen covered. What he did have covered, however, was his face. A strange white mask with accencuated jaws on the sides and pointed ears past them. Before Ichigo could think to ask about it, or say anything at all, the stranger slowly raised a hand that he noticed contained a gun in it.

A shot was heard as Ichigo flinched hard, his eyes squeezed shut and brow twitching. Eventually, Ichigo realized the shot had went past him, along with the stranger's casually slow footsteps. He cautiously opened his eyes, turning around to see someone in all black dead on the ground. The one in white pulled something out of his pocket as he crouched down, setting it on the dead person's chest and tucking it slightly under their clothes- probably so it wouldn't blow away, as it seemed to be a small piece of paper. The stranger walked away, and Ichigo wouldn't have given chase even if he wasn't scared into place.

After taking a moment to calm down and assure himself the stranger wasn't coming back to shoot him as well, Ichigo tentatively walked forward and looked down at the body. The piece of paper was a card, and he squinted to be able to read the English letters P, A, N, T, E, R, A. In the bottom right corner, it said in Japanese this time: "Regards from the Arrancars."

Grimmjow's words regarding the Arrancars echoed in Ichigo's mind, and the event he'd just witnessed only gave the blue haired man's words more strength. Since the Arrancar had been dressed in white, Ichigo wondered if the black outfit meant the dead one was a Soul Reaper. He supposed it would make sense for the Arrancars to target Soul Reapers, after all. That thought made him worried for his friends, which also reminded him to continue his trek to Renji's apartment.

He allowed the adrenaline still flowing through his veins to urge him on, increasing his pace even more than he had when he discovered the now dead stranger had been following him. If his paranoia that had kept him from walking home the other night had faded, it was back in full force at that moment, and Ichigo desperately wished he'd taken Grimmjow up on his offer to drive him home.

* * *

The walk back to Renji's apartment complex took longer than Ichigo would have wanted, but he didn't care. He felt infinitely safer once he was within the building, after which he panted in front of the stairs, groaning as he began to ascend them. Once he finally reached Renji's apartment, he knocked on the door with all the energy he could muster. The door opened not a minute later and Ichigo hurried inside before collapsing on the couch and tossing his clothes beside him.

"Why are you- what are you- alright, alright," Renji began, "I know you wanna talk to us about Soul Reaper stuff, but I've got a few questions first. Why are you so exhausted? You're drenched in sweat."

"Walked here. Something happened on the way. Walked faster," Ichigo answered between pants.

"What are you wearing?" He hesitated at that question, answering it nonetheless.

"This is one of Grimmjow's outfits..." His answer received a snort from Rukia, who Ichigo hadn't noticed until then.

"You said something happened. What happened to make you walk faster?" she asked, gasping after the fact. "You didn't have a run-in with an Arrancar, did you?!"

"Technically, yes," Ichigo answered, sitting up properly as he finally caught his breath, "but someone was following me before that. I turned a corner and the Arrancar was there and then, uh... he shot the guy who was following me."

"Why would he have bothered shooting your stalker but not you?" Rukia mused, standing in front of the couch next to Ichigo. Renji also moved to sit on the other side of him, looking just as serious as her.

"What was the guy wearing? The one who was following you," Renji asked, and Ichigo would have made a joke if he wasn't still unsettled by the event.

"All black. It was kind of a weird outfit, actually, like-"

"Sounds like a Soul Reaper... damn," Renji muttered, "it's like the world is aligning itself just to make you hate us."

"Right... 'us'. Honestly, I'm not even surprised it was a Soul Reaper at this point. I don't know if I'd even be surprised if it was one of you two," Ichigo said, still spiteful at their secrecy during the years that he'd known them. He stood up so as not to be between the two of them and faced them, pretending he wasn't too tired to stand for very long.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you..." Rukia apologized, seeming like she had more to say before Renji chimed in.

"Last time she told someone about Soul Reapers, she almost got executed."

"Renji!"

"What?!" Ichigo yelled, shock immediately taking over his features.

"Shit... probably shouldn't have said that," Renji muttered, looking away.

"What do you mean, you almost got executed?! Execution?!"

"Well, I didn't, did I?" Rukia attempted to reassure, voice more serious than Ichigo had heard in quite a while.

"Are you gonna be in trouble like that again now?!"

"No," she answered, "with the way you found out, it couldn't be helped. I won't be punished. Or, I shouldn't be..."

"Wait, you don't even know? How is all this supposed to bias me TOWARDS Soul Reapers and not even more AGAINST them?!"

"Listen-"

"What exactly happened that made you almost get executed?! Did the person you tell have to be killed, too?!" Rukia paused and Ichigo saw her shoulders lower slightly.

"Well... yes, but-"

"Yes?! So from what I'm hearing, the Soul Reapers really are more like the mob than the ACTUAL MOB-"

"Listen!" Rukia interrupted, the slight waver in her voice gone. "Let me tell you the whole story."

Ichigo paused for a moment that seemed to stretch eternity before reluctantly nodding as he crossed his arms. Rukia took a deep breath before she started.

"Back in Karakura Town, there was a small group that was causing trouble. Not dangerous or bold enough to really garner any attention from anyone but the people who actively search for groups like theirs; people like the Soul Reapers. I once encountered a few people from that group attempting to harm a civilian, so I beat them away and saved the man. When he asked if I was going to hurt him too, I introduced myself and explained that I was a Soul Reaper and that my job was to keep groups like that from harming him. He thanked me and left... but it turned out, the leader of the group was smart enough to plan out the entire scene. The man I'd saved was from the same group as the men who pretended to attack him to lure out a Soul Reaper."

Ichigo swallowed, understanding why a situation like that would lead to punishment, but still refusing to believe execution was appropriate. He held back his arguments until Rukia finished her story, however.

"When I told him who I was, I'd given him my full name. I have no way of knowing exactly what happened, but apparently, when he tried to tell his boss about me, they only heard the name Kuchiki. They went after my brother, who has more of a reputation among those who know of Soul Reapers than I, and I came home to him standing over more corpses than I could count with a single glance. I probably would have been able to, if the look he gave me didn't freeze my gaze in place..."

Her eyes looked a bit sad as she paused, but then returned to normal as she continued once more.

"When the Soul Society found out, it was decided that I needed to be punished for putting someone as important as my brother in danger. I guess someone in the higher ups had something against me, or perhaps they were just a bit too enthusiastic about getting rid of a liability, and it had been decided that my punishment would be death. My brother had to appeal and convince them that he could take care of himself and that it wouldn't happen again... and that if it did, he would kill me himself."

Shock dawned on Ichigo once more, his mouth silently moving before he could find his words.

"Holy shit, no wonder you didn't wanna live with him! But still, why the hell would they choose execution as a punishment? Why is that even an option?!"

"The Soul Society's been around for a long time," Renji said, jumping back into the conversation, "even back when execution was a more common thing. I think I heard once that if you back talked a superior, you'd get punished by death back then... uh, but that was probably only a rumor."

"Renji... he really didn't need to know that," Rukia mumbled.

"God, I just..." Ichigo couldn't even figure out what he was trying to say, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair.

"What are you gonna do, leave again? Stay with your boyfriend permanently this time?" Renji asked despite the situation. In the back of his mind, Ichigo knew the redhead was only trying to lighten the mood to show he had no ill will now that Ichigo was aware of the situation, but he wasn't exactly in the mood to smile.

"No, there's no point in trying to run from unpleasant stuff like this," he reasoned, finally beginning to calm down, "we have to work it out eventually. I'm not just gonna avoid you guys for the rest of my life, or anything. Besides, even if the Soul Reapers are bad, I know you aren't."

"For sure now, huh?" Renji joked, seeming relieved. Rukia also appeared to benefit from the significantly lower amount of tension in the air, giving a sigh of relief as she moved to sit down next to Renji. Ichigo continued standing as he scratched the back of his head.

"I guess. More sure than before," Ichigo muttered. There was a moment of silence before Renji started speaking again.

"You know, I would understand if you started siding with the Arrancars after tonight, with what happened and all, but I don't get why you would have sided with them before."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked, giving Ichigo a cautious glance.

"Well, I guess it makes some degree of sense. His boyfriend doesn't like Soul Reapers and convinced Ichigo to see his way of thinking. Hey, maybe that's why that Arrancar didn't shoot you," Renji said, probably intending it as a joke, but then realizing something as he continued, "actually, maybe that's why the Soul Reaper was following you in the first place."

"What?! Oh my god, that would only prove what Grimmjow said to be right, anyway! He made a joke that I might get killed for not liking Soul Reapers, and if that's the reason that one was following me, he probably would have turned out to be right. That is, if that Arrancar didn't save me."

"I'm a little uncomfortable with you referring to an Arrancar as your savior, to be honest," Renji confessed, "just doesn't sit right with me."

"You're missing the point," Ichigo informed, "I really might have just almost gotten killed. I've done nothing wrong, a Soul Reaper should have no reason to follow me."

"Maybe he mistook you for someone else?" Rukia suggested, sounding unusually timid. She probably expected Ichigo to lash out at her trying to defend the Soul Reaper, but he also took it as her believing that Ichigo himself hadn't done anything wrong.

"I don't know. But either way," Ichigo said as he calmed down, "have you guys had dinner yet? Because I haven't."

Renji smiled at that, eagerly getting up from the couch to make his way towards the kitchen. Rukia seemed to try to bring herself to smile too, but quickly gave up on it as she sighed and followed the redhead. Ichigo grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not mad," he assured, "well, I'm not gonna say I _wasn't_ , or that I don't still feel kind of betrayed and maybe a little irritated, or, well... but uh, nobody can stay mad forever. Especially not at their best friends, you know?"

"You sure had that sentence locked down," Rukia joked, finally able to show a small grin.

"Hell yeah, that sentence was under lock. I just let it do whatever it wanted," Ichigo responded in kind, sporting his own grin. He let go of her shoulder and the two of them continued walking as Renji asked what they wanted for dinner.

After eating, Ichigo felt as if he should have been able to fall asleep easily, but the events of the day kept him awake. After his brain decided it'd had enough of the whole mob business, the fact that Grimmjow had blatantly hit on him about an hour prior to that came to mind. On the topic of Grimmjow, Ichigo picked up his phone to check if he had any texts from him. He had zero notifications and decided to just send a text himself.

2:30 AM  
You know, I was a little on the fence about the whole mob situation, but I think I agree with you now. The Soul Reapers are way worse than the Arrancars.

As he hit send, Ichigo realized he'd not only been awake for much longer than he thought, but he had also sent a text to Grimmjow in the middle of the night. He felt a bit bad at the possibility of waking him up and bit his lip as he set his phone back down and closed his eyes again. It buzzed on the table soon after, surprising Ichigo.

2:32 AM  
Told ya so.

Ichigo immediately felt less bad, huffing as he set the device down again and tried to force himself to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, Ichigo, you have cards, right?" Renji asked as he set his mug of coffee down.

"What, like playing cards? Of course not, you think I just carry cards around with me?"

"Like credit cards, idiot," Renji specified, nonchalantly taking another sip as Ichigo couldn't help but agree somewhat with the insult.

"Yeah, uh, I have a debit card. God, you should have seen me when I got my first... information pamphlet or whatever that the bank sent me. I wasn't really focused on it and I saw something about overdraft fees and threw a fit before I realized it was just general information they were giving me." Ichigo scowled as the redhead laughed, but his phone lit up on the table, distracting him from telling his friend to stop. Renji glanced at the device before Ichigo was able to pick it up.

"Were you sending your boyfriend pictures last night or something?" he asked. "And you try to pretend you aren't dating!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled, finally looking down as he picked up his phone to check the text himself.

9:06 AM  
What made you send me that so early in the morning, anyway?

Ichigo was glad at that moment that Renji hadn't been nosy enough to take the phone and scroll through his conversation with Grimmjow. He realized, however, that it was only out of fear of seeing pictures that weren't intended for him. After walking over to the sink with his empty plate in hand, he made his way to the couch and began texting Grimmjow the events of the previous night. His fingers were aching after typing the whole thing out and he wished he could have done it faster just because of how much of a hassle it had been, but he received a reply almost immediately.

9:12 AM  
Holy shit.

Ichigo made a face at his phone, having been expecting more of a reply. He rolled his eyes and then remembered Renji's question from a few minutes prior.

"Hey, why did you wanna know?" he asked, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard from the kitchen.

"Dude, I don't wanna see your dick pics, if that's what you're asking," Renji joked, clearly messing with Ichigo.

"No, the other question! Why'd you wanna know about my cards?" Ichigo paused for a moment as his phone buzzed with another text. "And there aren't any dick pics!"

He heard Renji laugh again as he checked the text.

9:13 AM  
I can see how that made you change your mind, though. Fucker was stalking you and an Arrancar saves your ass, only makes sense that you'd see them in a better light.

Ichigo had a hard time believing Grimmjow had texted all that out in one minute, envying his dexterity. He did acknowledge, however, that Grimmjow probably texted more than three times a year or so, as Ichigo usually ended up doing.

"Just wondering if I gotta charge you cash or credit for rent."

"What, rent?! You're gonna charge me rent while I'm here?! ... Can I at least split it with Rukia?" Ichigo added as an afterthought with nearly impeccable timing as Rukia herself knocked on the door to be let into Renji's apartment. The three of them argued over rent for a while before coming to the agreement that the three of them would split Renji's usual bills.

After the topic of rent had been decided, Ichigo decided to try his luck in asking about the Soul Reaper situation again.

"So, uh," he started, unable to think of how to ask about the group without sounding bitter, "why are most Soul Reapers... you know, the way that they are? Like, the ones who give you a bad rap, I mean."

"Who knows," Renji answered with his voice somewhat obscured by the position he was in, cheek resting on his hand, "there's plenty of bad people on the planet. I've said it before, I'll say it again. It's impossible for everyone in a group to be a saint."

"A lot of people also let the power go to their heads," Rukia added, "even though they're not supposed to go around telling people about Soul Reapers. Obviously, considering... you know, my whole story you had to sit through."

"I still can't believe your brother would threaten to kill you like that," Ichigo said, voice low to match the tension that had already entered the air.

"He said it to protect me. He cares, I know he does... it's just hard to believe sometimes..."

There was a moment of silence as Ichigo tried his best to avoid giving Rukia any particularly obvious looks of pity. He could tell Renji was doing the same, avoiding looking at her altogether.

"So..." Ichigo started again, all too willing to break the silence, "you said something about higher ups before. How does that work, exactly?"

Rukia then hopped off the couch she'd been sitting on and ran to the guest room. Renji slouched further in the armchair he'd situated himself in as she came back out with what appeared to be a sketchbook. Ichigo braced himself from the other end of the couch as she sat down again and began drawing. After a few short minutes, she turned the sketchbook to face outwards and pointed to her drawings as she explained.

"Starting from the top, we have the Central 46, which is a group that presides over the Soul Society. They basically decide punishments for Soul Reapers who break their laws. The Central 46 is no longer made of 46 people after a certain incident a few years ago, as they're still trying to find replacements for three of the judges and ten or so of the rest of the council." Rukia pointed from bunny-like drawing to bunny-like drawing with enthusiasm, and Ichigo exchanged glances with Renji.

"Next, we have Head Captain Yamamoto. He's in charge of the 13 squads that-"

"Wait, now you're even giving me names? Are you sure it's alright to tell me all this?" Ichigo interrupted, hesitant to allow Rukia to be punished because of him if she was breaking rules again.

"Eh, Soul Society can't find out here unless we let 'em. Their influence is greatest over Karakura Town and isn't that strong anywhere else, even though Soul Reapers have been here for a few years now," Renji explained. Rukia nodded, continuing.

"Besides, I'm not giving you any crucial information that could lead to the downfall of the Soul Society or anything. Anyway, the 13 court guard squads, as they're named, are groups of Soul Reapers that sometimes have their own specialty. For example, squad 12 is dedicated mostly to research and science, while squad 4 is comprised mostly of doctors and, well, janitors." She pointed to a drawing of an exasperated looking bunny-person holding a broom. Ichigo related to the creature's expression.

"In charge of each squad are captains. Right now, we're missing the captains of squads 3, 5, and 9... but other than that, every squad has a captain. They are figures of authority and have a lot of power and influence. My brother is a captain, in fact." Ichigo spotted three bunny-people that were snickering in the shadows as well as one with a flat expression that vaguely resembled the description he'd once heard of Rukia's brother.

"Under the captains are lieutenants! A lieutenant is kind of like the right hand man of a captain. Renji here actually happens to be the lieutenant of the same squad my brother is in charge of," she mentioned, looking over at the redhead in question.

"Wait, how come you're not his lieutenant? Or did that seem too much like playing favorites?" Ichigo asked, finding it strange that Byakuya wouldn't want to keep Rukia in a position close under him.

"I don't know. I'm not even in his squad, actually... I'm in squad 13, but the captain of that one is really nice, so maybe that's better for me."

"Well, at least you've got that..." Ichigo offered, trying to stay positive. He really couldn't understand. If he was a captain, he'd want his little sisters within his own squad. Would affairs of a squad so far away from his own number be under his jurisdisction as a captain? Was that how that worked? Then again, Byakuya was able to convince the Central 46 not to execute Rukia, so his influence must span over all squads. As Ichigo lost himself in his thoughts, Rukia flipped the page to reveal even more drawings.

"That's... those are, uh..."

"I was in a rush!" Rukia said, partially hiding her face behind the sketchbook full of scribbles of bunny-people in a crowd. Ichigo squinted as he tried to figure out what it meant. "These are the rest of the Soul Reapers! Under the captain and lieutenant are seated officers, which are ranked by physical strength and experience, and then unranked officers such as myself."

"This all sounds complicated," Ichigo complained, "and I can barely figure out what those drawings are supposed to be. Why do you draw them like rabbits?"

Rukia threw the sketchbook at Ichigo instead of answering, drawing a laugh out of Renji.

"Oh yeah, the most obvious question of all," Ichigo said, mentally kicking himself for taking so long to think to ask it, "why are you called Soul Reapers?"

"It's been the name for a while now," Renji answered. "We, uh... well, we never really arrest the people involved in groups that catch the Soul Society's attention. We kind of... god, you're gonna get pissed again."

"What? You what? ... Don't tell me..."

"We kill them," Renji seemed to force out, drawing a long, angry sigh from Ichigo.

"You don't even give them a chance to reform? Guess that's why they're willing to execute one of their own," Ichigo remarked, annoyed again, as Renji had predicted.

"Look, see? Exactly like I said. Besides, some people just can't be reformed."

"What, so you believe in the death penalty?"

"Oh my god, please don't make this about politics."

"Well, apparently you're making it about religion," Ichigo shot back.

"The death penalty has it uses, alright? I don't agree with having to kill _everyone_ in these groups, especially since some of them end up being roped into agreeing to oppose the Soul Society..." Renji's expression fell as he realized he said something bad.

"So you kill people who are basically innocent, too?!" Ichigo shouted.

"Ichigo-" Renji and Rukia both started at the same time, hesitating and looking at each other as they realized they'd said his name in unison.

"No, don't "Ichigo" me! I..." he gave another sigh that wasn't quite as loud, but still held anger in it, "I'm leaving again. I'll be back later."

"Ichigo, it's not our fault!" Rukia argued as Ichigo got up and walked towards the door, intent on storming out as he had with Renji the other day.

"If it makes you feel any better," Renji said, catching Ichigo's attention enough to make him stop at the door. "Neither of us have ever killed any innocent people."

Ichigo didn't know whether to believe them or not, fuming as he opened the door with relative gingerness and slammed it behind him. Not knowing where to go, Ichigo ran a hand through his hair as he stood in front of the door. Going back in was absolutely out of the question, obviously. There was basically only one option he could think of, pulling his phone out to text Grimmjow that he could really use a drink or five and asking him to drive him to a bar.

* * *

"You know, I've noticed that when you get drinking, you're a lot more..." Grimmjow paused to think as he made a vague, undecisive gesture with his hand, "complacent to my flirting."

"Complacent?" Ichigo questioned, finishing the first half of his fourth drink. "What, you want me to be kicking and screaming the whole time?"

"You were kicking and screaming when I said I wouldn't chew on some cardboard or whatever."

"That wasn't even the conversation!" Ichigo argued, slamming his glass down on the bar. "I probably could have picked something better than cardboard, though. Alright, alright, do-over. Say you hate... I don't know, pears or something-"

"Pears?" Grimmjow snickered, apparently finding something funny about the fruit.

"Whatever, just any kind of actual food!" Ichigo hadn't even noticed a rather large stranger with fluffy red hair covering half of his head walk up from behind him to sit next to Grimmjow until the blue haired man gave him a friendly greeting. Friendly for him, at least. An "oh, hey" that didn't quite sound irritated would have to do.

"Now what the hell's going on over here?" the large man asked, waving for the bartender as he did so.

"Alright, the question is this: Would you rather never have to eat again, or have everything taste good no matter what?" Ichigo reiterated. The man thought for a moment.

"That's a tough one. What about texture? Is that unchanged?"

"Uh... yeah, I guess. You can't really do anything about texture without, like, numbing your mouth or something. But then you couldn't taste it, probably, so it'd defeat the whole purpose."

"I'd rather not have to eat," Grimmjow explained, "fuckin' pain in the ass."

"Alright, alright, how about this one? What if you never had to eat again, but also never _could_ eat again? Like, you just physically can't process food."

"I'd still do it," Grimmjow maintained. The large stranger leaned back a bit after ordering his drink.

"I wouldn't. There's some food I don't think I could give up," he said.

"Exactly! Grimmjow, why do you hate food?"

"Like I said, fuckin' pain in the ass."

"Who are you, by the way?" the stranger asked, looking at Ichigo. He'd been so caught up in the conversation that he forgot to introduce himself to the newcomer.

"I'm Ichigo. Kurosaki, I mean. Are you one of Grimmjow's friends?"

"Yeah, Edrad," he answered, "probably should have been able to guess you're Ichigo. Grimmjow's been talking about you."

"Right, come on," Grimmjow muttered, apparently unpleased.

"That name sounds familiar..." Ichigo mused, "uh... the, uh... the blond from the diner-"

"Yylfordt." Grimmjow reminded. "You really can't keep his name down, huh?"

"Yeah, that guy. Didn't he mention something about Edrad?"

"Probably," Grimmjow answered, "Yylfordt and Edrad are two of my boys. I've got three more, then everyone else is kind of a separate group, like Nnoitra and Starrk and all."

"Aw, jeez, he's met Nnoitra?" Edrad groaned more than asked.

"Believe it or not, he was on his best fuckin' behavior," Grimmjow scoffed.

"Not too many sex jokes?"

"Only in Spanish, so Ichigo here didn't have to hear 'em." The two of them laughed as Grimmjow said something that Ichigo was somewhat sure was a repeat of something Nnoitra had said when Ichigo met him.

"What? What was it?" he asked. Edrad snorted as Grimmjow shook his head.

"Nothin'," he lied, "you're too innocent and pure to hear somethin' like that, anyway."

"You know what?" Ichigo seemed to challenge, grabbing onto the collar of Grimmjow's jacket and pulling him forward. Before the blue haired man could answer, he found himself muffled. Ichigo held the kiss for a few seconds until he noticed Grimmjow hadn't been responding, causing him to pull away just enough to speak.

"Woah, woah, woah, should I leave you two alone?" Edrad asked, brows raised in a sort of gentle surprise as Ichigo noticed a smirk on his face.

"I don't know what the hell I'm so afraid of," he continued, bringing his gaze back to Grimmjow, "that you won't like me back? You hit on me all the time, you even said you... you wanted to dominate me-"

"Good to see you're still sober enough to get embarrassed," Grimmjow joked, removing Ichigo's hand from his jacket, "but I didn't want it like this."

"Like what? What, just because I'm drunk? Fine then, I'll hit you up tomorrow and we'll do whatever you want." Ichigo almost thought he should have held some form of doubt in the back of his mind, something that insisted he wouldn't be willing to keep that promise, but he didn't.

"Not just that. Think about the reason you went out drinking with me today in the first place, the reason you've had more than the one Jack and Coke and weak little martini that you got last time. You're going through some tough times or whatever right now, I understand that. And I'm not gonna take advantage of you like that, alright?" Ichigo was stunned into silence by Grimmjow's speech, but Edrad, on the other hand, appeared to find it amusing.

"Since when are you such a saint, Grimmjow? Did this guy finally turn you around? Gonna start going to church next?" he teased, barely flinching as he received a punch in the arm.

"Shut up, I'm a piece of shit but I'm not _that_ bad," Grimmjow answered, his frown lifting into something less serious. "Anyway, I'm taking you home."

"Which home?" Ichigo asked, fishing money out of his pocket to leave on the counter. He was confused for a moment to see the foreign currency before he realized he wasn't meant to be using yen for the moment and that Renji had converted his currency. He stumbled forward as he slid off the stool he'd been parked on for the past hour or so, grabbing onto Grimmjow for support.

"Whichever home you want. You're not sleepin' in my bed if you pick mine, though."

"Then I'll sleep on your couch again," Ichigo settled, really not feeling like coming back to Renji's apartment drunk to be teased about the boyfriend he didn't have. He also wanted to get away from the Soul Reaper situation, despite what he'd said the previous night that would imply the contrary: that he'd get used to it and accept his friends for being part of the Mob 2.0. He'd much prefer just staying away from them until something in his mind clicked on its own and told him what to do about it.

"Alright, fine. Maybe we'll see how you feel in the morning about that little promise you made." There was a pause as Ichigo stubbornly nodded and finally remembered to push off of Grimmjow, with Edrad cautiously holding an arm out behind him in case he fell backwards.

"I'm not changing my mind," Ichigo maintained, shooing Edrad's arm away as he walked on his own without stumbling. He did apparently still seem a bit off-balance, however, as Grimmjow scoffed behind him.

"You're drinking a fuck ton of water when we get home," he informed, "and obviously, dinner's a given."


	13. Chapter 13

Ichigo had somehow been prompted during the car ride to Grimmjow's house- he couldn't remember whether it was by Grimmjow or himself- to start sharing stories from his past that he'd always been reluctant to tell. He told the man about how he blamed himself for his mother's death first off, and it had been surprisingly easy to transition from such a sad story to the much more light hearted story of the time he and Rukia played a prank on Renji by shaving his strange eyebrows off. After that story, he was reminded of nearly every good time he ever had with them, prattling on about them for the remainder of the ride.

"You really like those two, huh?" Grimmjow asked, finally getting an actual sentence in between Ichigo's constant chatter. He was certainly a lot more talkative when he's had a few.

"Yeah, they're my best friends. I love them," Ichigo replied, eyes drooping a bit as he looked down. "Even if the Soul Reapers are fine with killing people."

Ichigo's voice suddenly hitched at the end of his sentence as he lurched forward and covered his mouth as Grimmjow slammed the breaks, nearly having been cut off by a car that sped by.

"You better not throw up in my car," he warned, "we're literally two minutes away from my fuckin' house."

"'m not gonna... throw up," Ichigo managed, suddenly feeling as if he might have just lied. He kept the hand over his mouth firmly in place until they pulled up to the driveway of the blue haired man's house.

"Take a minute if you've gotta. Don't drink anything until you're sure you can keep it down," Grimmjow said, the two of them getting out of the car at once. Ichigo nearly fell to his knees at the fresh air that met him, feeling better already. He tipped his head back and took a deep breath before following Grimmjow to the front door.

Upon entering his home, Grimmjow's expression seemed to harden as he glanced over at a briefcase and a note sitting on his coffee table. He mumbled for Ichigo to get a drink as he approached the items, ripping the note off of the briefcase and scowling at it. Ichigo gave a silent hiccup that could easily have been interpreted as a shrug before he kicked his shoes off and shuffled towards the kitchen as he was told.

"I've gotta leave you here for a while," Grimmjow informed, "my buddy left his shit here and I've gotta deliver it."

"How long will you be gone?" There was a pause before Ichigo heard Grimmjow open the briefcase and then quickly slam it shut again.

"I don't know. Depends on if he keeps me there. I'll order you a pizza on the way since you're probably too drunk to make anything." Another pause. "On that note, don't fuckin' die or anything while I'm gone, idiot."

"What? You're the idiot! Also, get pepperoni." He took a sip from the water he'd poured himself- expertly for how many drinks he'd had, he'd say. "I hope it gets here as fast as it did last time."

"Yeah, well, it's like a fuckin' 5 minute drive from here. Real close," Grimmjow said, finally sliding the briefcase off of the coffee table, which Ichigo had poked his head out of the kitchen just in time to see.

"I'll, uh, see you later, I guess?" Grimmjow gave a seemingly annoyed grunt in response, quickly leaving. Ichigo was left in silence for a minute before realization hit him and he sprinted to the door, seeing through the peephole that Grimmjow was already pulling out of the driveway.

"Asshole's gonna make me pay for it? ... Whatever," he mumbled, sitting on the couch with his glass of water. He let his mind wander for a few minutes before he came back to wondering about the briefcase. He then assumed the buddy who had left it there might have been Nnoitra, in which case, Grimmjow opening and immediately, seemingly angrily closing the briefcase would make sense. Somehow not expecting there to be porn in it and then there being porn in it anyway would do that to anyone.

Ichigo took a minute to figure out how to turn on the console he and Grimmjow had used the last time he visited and decided to practice at that minigolf game. After messing around on the main menu of the console, he found out how to enter the game and somehow managed to bring up the achievement list for it.

"Complete every tournament in 5 under par or better... yeah, that'll happen," Ichigo scoffed, nearly dropping the controller as the door bell didn't fail to startle him again. He jogged to the door before opening it and exchanging words with the delivery person that neither party could understand. Apparently, payment was enough, as the delivery person awkwardly handed over the box and left, supposedly without complaint. It had only occured to Ichigo afterwards that the person might have been suspicious about Grimmjow not being home.

After pouring himself another glass of water and starting on his pizza, Ichigo started messing with the map editor, intent on making the most complicated hole possible.

* * *

Ichigo woke up to his phone ringing and buzzing without ever having realized that he fell asleep. The television screen was dim as it had been left on and the console had eventually turned down the brightness of the display to save power. As Ichigo fully sat up from his awkward slouching position, he noticed the pain in both his neck _and_ his head at once. Wasn't the food and water supposed to help not give him a hangover?

Finally remembering what woke him up in the first place, Ichigo barely answered the call in time, suspecting it probably would have gone to his voicemail after a few more seconds. Wary as he didn't have time to read the number but still recognized it as one that didn't have a registered name associated with it, he took a deep breath away from the phone before giving a greeting.

"You will cease associating with the Arrancars. This is your only warning."

Ichigo gasped as the caller immediately hung up. If he hadn't been fully awake at that point, he sure as hell was now. Associating with the Arrancars? He tried his hardest to stop himself from panicking and forced himself to think logically. If that was a Soul Reaper that just called him, it would make some ounce of sense. A Soul Reaper had been following him, likely on orders, and an Arrancar had been the one to put a bullet in that one's head. If the Soul Society assumed Ichigo had orchestrated that... it _was_ awfully convenient that the Arrancar had been waiting for him in that alley, after all.

Ichigo slumped forward, fingers kneading at his head. It wasn't as if he was intentionally "associating" with the mob, so it was impossible for him to stop. What was one to do in his situation? He picked up his phone again and looked at his call history, trying to read the number before it deleted itself before his eyes. His eyes widened and he backed out of the call history and went back into it, thinking the system somehow made a mistake, but the number was still gone. Was that even possible? He could swear his fear-quickened breath combined with his headache was going to make him pass out again.

He briefly considered calling Grimmjow before he heard the front door open as if on cue, drawing a hugely relieved sigh out of Ichigo, who jumped off of the couch and ran over to the owner of the house.

"Grimmjow! Grimmjow, Grimmjow!" Ichigo found himself unable to utter much of anything else, still shaking slightly in apprehension.

"Are you gonna say something besides my name?" he asked, taking his jacket off and carelessly tossing it onto the couch, barely making the throw.

"I just- I just got a call from... I mean, I guess I don't know who it was from but... shit, Grimmjow! I think it was a Soul Reaper, but whoever it was said to stop associating with the Arrancars, which I'm not even doing on purpose! How the hell am I supposed to stop doing something I'm not doing in the first place?! I'm fucked!"

"Alright, alright, calm the fuck down," Grimmjow commanded, dragging Ichigo to the couch and practically throwing him onto it. "Did they say anything else?"

"Just... that it was my only warning. Fuck, what do I do? The number deleted itself from my call history!"

"Calm down-"

"How am I supposed to calm down?!"

"You calm your ass the fuck down already is how," Grimmjow shot, eyes narrowed as he placed his hands on Ichigo's shoulders. "Listen. That shit happens all the time here."

"What, really? But-"

"Did they say your name? Or make any reference whatsoever to yourself, the people you know, or where you are?"

"N-no..." Ichigo's shoulders began to drop as Grimmjow removed his hands from them.

"Everyone who says anything about the Arrancars that isn't negative gets a call like that. I've gotten two myself, and they both said they were my only warning. It's all a load of shit, Ichigo. So calm down."

"But... but the number-"

"I don't know what kind of weird tech trick that is, but it happens every time. It'd be smarter to just call from a private number, but they probably want you to be scared by the fact that it deletes itself from your history. It's like I've been saying, Soul Reapers are a pain in the ass." Grimmjow yawned shortly after finishing his little speech, which Ichigo found rather relatable. He was still tired from his short nap, finally getting up again to turn off the console he'd been using and then the television itself.

"But how'd they get my number?" he asked as somewhat of an afterthought, somehow not as concerned with that aspect as much as everything else surrounding the call.

"I don't know, how do telemarketers do it? The Soul Reapers probably have their gross little claws sunk into just about everything you can think of. I doubt they know much of anything about you, though."

"That's a huge relief, but still fucking terrifying," Ichigo said as he sat down again. "I don't know if I can go back to sleep after that, but I'm willing to try."

"What, you were sleeping? Don't tell me you missed the fucking pizza."

"No, I got it and was surprisingly able to pay for it. The poor delivery guy must have been really confused." Grimmjow smirked at that, shaking his head.

"I would say I've gotta teach you Spanish at some point, but fuck that, I'm not your fuckin' tutor. Anyway, I could use some sleep, too. Goodnight, idiot," he said as he got up and began to make his way towards his room, picking up his jacket surprisingly carefully along the way.

"What, is that your nickname for me now?!" Ichigo complained, sighing as Grimmjow only smiled back at him.


	14. Intermission 2 - Curiosities

a pretty short intermission, but i suppose it's better than nothing while you wait for the next chapter

* * *

 _"My favorites are the tiny ones that deal a lot of damage!" Lilynette enthusiastically shared to her brother, who was barely awake as he listened. She'd been talking about the video game Starrk got her ever since she obtained it on her birthday about a week prior. It pleased Starrk that she was so happy with it, but he didn't really understand what she was talking about. If she wanted someone to play with, he'd pick it up and learn how to play. Until then, however, he just listened without knowing the details._

 _The only reason the two were still lingering in the bar was because Grimmjow had been sober enough to drive home and Starrk didn't feel like getting up just yet. He'd even gone through the trouble of ordering another drink since he knew he didn't have to drive. He would never get behind the wheel after more than a sip of even the weakest cocktail with Lilynette in the car._

 _His little sister continued talking about her game, saying how she was scared that she forgot to save before a boss fight but then beat it on the first try anyway. As Starrk told her he was proud of her, a man wearing a strange floral coat and a straw hat approached their table. Starrk's eyes narrowed just slightly, barely noticeable, as he recognized the outfit the stranger had on under his coat._

 _"This is the end for you, Arrancar," he declared, voice sounding anything but steady as he appeared to be struggling somewhat to keep his balance. Appeared._

 _"What are you talking about?" Starrk mumbled, blinking very slowly so as to show he wasn't worried in the slightest. Lilynette, however, didn't keep so calm._

 _"What? Where? Why were you looking at him when you said that?!" The man disregarded Lilynette as she stepped away slightly. Starrk was relieved that she spoke in a vague enough way that made it seem like they may not know each other. If he was lucky, this situation... no, it required no luck. It was clear to Starrk that everything would work out just fine. He only wished he could communicate that to his sister._

 _Starrk ignored the man's accusations as he considered the possibilities. This stranger seemed to be drunk, but appearance was most likely as far as it went. If he remained passive and if Lilynette didn't give anything away, the man might just give up and leave._

 _"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" he said, grabbing Starrk's attention as he pulled out a gun. This startled Lilynette, but Starrk noticed he didn't make a move to flick the safety off. It was unlikely he would carry a loaded gun with the safety off at all times, unless the stranger really was a drunken idiot and his assumption had been incorrect._

 _"And I still don't know exactly what you're talking about," Starrk replied, purposely furrowing his brow and moving his arms as if he were uncomfortable._

 _"Stop! Stop, put that away! Don't shoot!" Lilynette screamed, tears streaming down her face as she couldn't stop from hyperventilating. Starrk frowned, hoping the situation came to a close sooner than later. It broke his heart to see his little sister like that, and if they were in a private setting, he probably would have taken his own gun out despite his predictions just for scaring her like that. He was a great shot, and a quick one at that. He had complete faith in his ability to shoot and kill the stranger before he could flick the safety off his own gun, but it simply wasn't strategically sound in a public area._

 _The man squinted and tilted his head, stumbling to the side a bit as he brought his free hand up to adjust his hat. As if on cue, which Starrk suspected it absolutely was, a woman with glasses approached and grabbed the stranger's arm._

 _"I'm so sorry about him! I'll get him out of your hair!" she assured, yanking the gun out of his hand and beginning to drag him away from Starrk._

 _"Aww, Nanao..!" the man whined, apparently satisfied with whatever he surmised during his time with Starrk. Lilynette sat down again and started trying to wipe her tears away as she calmed down a bit. Starrk bit his lip and got up to sit next to his sister instead of across from her, embracing her as he whispered that she hadn't been in any real danger and that he knew that the man was only gauging his reaction. He didn't bother mentioning that he saw it as less than a 100% chance, as that fact was irrelevant at that point. As he attempted to calm her down, Lilynette repeated over and over that she hated Soul Reapers._

* * *

 _Slamming the car door shut, Grimmjow scowled at the briefcase in his hand. Of all times, he had a package to deliver while he had Ichigo over. Thank Christ the kid had apparently been too drunk to ask too many questions, because what he was doing sure wasn't a normal not-in-the-mob thing. Even if Ichigo eventually did find out about Grimmjow being an Arrancar, perhaps his growing hatred of Soul Reapers would make the news a lot less disturbing. He input the address written on the note into his GPS and started the car, sighing loudly as he did so._

 _On second thought, Grimmjow realized that the briefcase was probably what Edrad had originally come to the bar to talk to him about, since the man had been involved with a case that he hinted might have had to end in bribery, hence the package Grimmjow was delivering. Grimmjow wasn't too great with telling whose handwriting was whose, but the obnoxiously cheerful note with the little smiley face with a peace sign in the corner was unmistakably Ichimaru's._

 _And of course, because that fucker always knew when anyone was talking or even thinking about him, Grimmjow's phone vibrated for all of one second before he quickly picked it up, trying his best to hide the fact that he was a little pissed._

 _"I see you're on the move again." Of course he did. Those three had eyes everywhere. "Off to deliver a certain package?"_

 _"I don't see why you can't get someone of a lower rank to do this," Grimmjow commented, hoping he was being "respectful" enough. Ichimaru was the most laid back out of his bosses, however, so the worst punishment he could get was a taunting laugh over the phone._

 _"Well, if things start going badly, you'll be able to handle yourself just fine, hmm? You're just so strong and capable, it's hard to resist sending you on these types of little missions!"_

 _Grimmjow nearly snarled at the obvious flattery, but luckily had enough self control to simply glare at the road in front of him instead._

 _"How's your new little friend, by the way?" Ichimaru asked, apparently having no plans to hang up any time soon._

 _"What friend?" He didn't know why he bothered to feign ignorance, as he'd just been complaining to himself that his bosses always knew everything._

 _"Come on. You left a card to make it look like a hit, but you had no orders to kill that Soul Reaper. You did it because you wanted to, because he was following your b-"_

 _Grimmjow hung up without hesitation, cutting Ichimaru off and knowing he could get away with it due to how lax the overly cheerful man was. He hated to admit the man was his favorite out of the three, but only in the fact that he hated him slightly less than the other two. In fact, when he was in a good mood, he'd call the lowly little snake by his given name, which had even slipped out when he was talking to Ichigo a few nights ago._

 _Ichigo... Grimmjow felt a tinge of guilt for the mess he'd dragged the boy into, having been the one to approach him when they met. He'd been half-hoping they'd have gone their separate ways already by that point, plus he didn't exactly try too hard to make a good first impression at the diner. He was surprised Ichigo even agreed to come sit with him to begin with, but then, that kiss at the bar and his drunken confession seemed to explain it away. Ichigo must have just seen the same thing in Grimmjow that the latter saw in the former._


	15. Chapter 15

"So what took you so long to get over here?" Ichigo shook himself out of his half-asleep daze, yawning before he attempted to answer.

"What do you mean? You picked me up," he reminded, rubbing at his eye with the back of his hand as he sat up, the spare blanket he'd been using falling around his waist.

"Well, what took you so long to ask me for a ride, then?" Grimmjow clarified. "You sent me that text at like 2 AM saying you finally agreed with me about Soul Reapers and then waited until later on in the day to say you wanted to come over. I assume the whole 'Soul Reapers being alright with killing everyone' story got told last night?"

Ichigo allowed his tired eyes to remain closed as he contemplated it himself.

"No, I was told about that right before I asked you to let me stay over. What happened that night was... well, for one I'd kinda just gotten back from your place and it'd make me feel kinda ridiculous to go back so soon-"

"Yet you come here the very next day?"

"Sh-shut up! Anyway, that night, I told Rukia and Renji about the guy that was following me and what happened and all and then... then Rukia told me a, uh... a story, about something that happened with... some Soul Reapers. Well, she was involved, kinda, but she didn't do anything wrong. I just felt kinda bad, like I needed to make it up to her. If I left after she told me about that, I bet she'd feel like it was her fault..."

"So you're a big softie who only storms out when it's convenient?" Grimmjow teased. "Which, of course, is literally every other time you hear about Soul Reapers 'cause they're just such shit?"

Ichigo almost attempted to argue before huffing, unable to disagree.

"So, uh," he started after a moment of silence, "why's Hueco Mundo known for being a desert? It doesn't seem like one at all to me."

"People exaggerate, but... do you actually know what a desert is?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"The kind you answer." They stared at each other for fifteen solid seconds.

"W-well, a desert's like... a hot, sandy place with no water... right?" Ichigo finally answered, suddenly unsure of himself. Grimmjow continued to stare.

"Doesn't necessarily have to be hot and sandy. Mostly just a lack of water," Grimmjow clarified, "but like I said, people exaggerate. They're just mad because they can only water their lawns once a month. People get real hot 'n bothered over little shit like that."

"Oh... is that something I should worry about?" Ichigo asked, suddenly a bit guilty again about spacing out in the shower more than once. Grimmjow scoffed.

"You mean worry about the lawn you don't have?" he joked. "Another thing, it doesn't rain often here. There actually is a more stereotypical looking desert a little ways away from here. By which I mean like half an hour drive, but still."

"That's interesting and all but I _meant_ if I should worry about water in general... like, take shorter showers and all that."

"I don't give a shit, what are you asking me for? You think I'd inconvenience myself for the " _greater good_ " of the world? It's some water. Taking a few extra minutes in the shower won't kill anyone. Also won't get you fined, which is the important part," he added, though Ichigo wasn't all that surprised that Grimmjow was more worried about getting fined than the moral issue of breaking a law in the first place.

"That... that sounds kind of awful, but... no, there's no defending it. It's awful, you're awful," Ichigo joked, though actually understanding the sentiment. It was a selfish idea, but it made sense not to go out of your way to make the world a marginally better place when you're gone. When it came to helping people, Ichigo had guided his fair share of grocery-carrying old ladies across the street, but saving a few liters of water didn't seem like much to stress over.

"Huh. So, does that mean you've changed your mind?" Grimmjow asked, a little too vague for Ichigo to catch what he meant. He must have seen that Ichigo was confused, because he continued after a brief pause. "Yesterday. When you-"

"OH! No, no, no, no, no! I-I mean, I... shit. No, I-I'm just, or, I was..."

"Considering how embarrassed you're getting I'll take that as a yes despite all your damn nos." Grimmjow was frowning now and Ichigo couldn't help but feel a little bad, mentally kicking himself at the same time as he finally remembered that foolish promise he'd made the previous night. "Didn't realize you were that drunk to start spewin' shit you didn't mean. Lightweight."

"No, look... I'm just, confused, alright? I don't... I don't know what I want," Ichigo admitted, covering his face in a feeble attempt to hide both his shame and the ever reddening heat on his cheeks.

"What the fuck's confused supposed to mean? You either meant it or you didn't. Which is it?" Despite his harsh tone, Ichigo could almost sense that there was very little venom behind the man's words, if any. He couldn't help but feel as if he were in one of those infamous 'I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed' scenarios that he always heard people got into with their parents. Ichigo bit his lip, sinking further into the couch as he slouched.

"Uh... hey, look at this sweet change of subject! So how much did you pay for this house, considering it's got busted wiring?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, staying silent for a moment before bringing his gaze back over to Ichigo.

"I actually didn't pay for it. In fact, you might think the way I got it's kinda... rude or whatever."

"Rude? What, did you punch the realter in the face or something?" Again, Grimmjow went silent.

"Remember when I told you about how my dad's got a brother? Well, he's got a sister, too. She was actually the oldest, so I thought of her as kind of a grandma when I met her. Kicked the bucket a few years back and I moved in."

"W-wait, what? Hang on, did I space out and miss some of that or something?" Ichigo asked, eyes widening and brow furrowing in concern.

"Hm? She lived here and then died so I moved her shit into the attic and took over," he repeated, causing the room to once again be filled with nothing but dead air.

"That... that really is rude. Like, incredibly disrespectful. It's... kind of horrible." Grimmjow just shrugged and Ichigo was suddenly at a loss for words.

"She doesn't care. She's fuckin' dead. 'Least she hasn't come back to haunt me yet."

"That's-"

As Ichigo was about to pause midsentence anyway, Grimmjow's phone conveniently cut him off by buzzing in his pocket. He watched the blue haired man pick it up nearly instantaneously, eyes softening and then moving to the ceiling as he leaned his head back before bringing it forward again and answering.

"... Hello?" he tentatively greeted, catching Ichigo off guard. He briefly wondered if it was his mother calling or something and then reminded himself that Grimmjow had told him his mother died a long time ago. Something the two of them had in common, actually. Ichigo couldn't exactly make out what was being said on the other line, but it sounded loud and... excited? Grimmjow sighed, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth as he tried to find an opening in the other person's constant talking.

"Does it have to be this week?" he asked, met with what sounded like a scream. "Alright, alright. You can come over."

There was another pause in actual conversation as Grimmjow offered quiet, humoring responses. Something clicked in Ichigo's mind as he realized who it must have been to have the rough, rude, practically uncaring man suddenly so modest.

"Is that your niece?" Ichigo asked, to which Grimmjow nodded, sighing again before apparently finding an opportunity to talk.

"Today? Are you already on your way?"

A pause.

"Well you can't make it in one day, you'd get here in the middle of the night."

Another pause.

"No, you'd be asleep. Just tell her to stop at a hotel or something partway through the trip and then- no, Nel, you can't just go a hundred miles an hour, you- because it's _against the law_ is why- Nel-"

Ichigo couldn't help snickering as Grimmjow was once again waiting for a chance to speak to the apparently stubborn little girl. The two locked gazes for a moment, blue eyes glaring and brown eyes barely able to keep themselves open as Ichigo tried not to burst out laughing.

"You're a piece of shit," Grimmjow muttered, being sure to hold the phone away from his face as he did so.

"Pfft, hypocrite," Ichigo whispered back, not too eager for the little girl to discover there was another person present and ask to speak to him.

Looking entirely exasperated, the blue haired man closed his eyes as he sighed once again.

"Alright, just... work it out with your mom. I'll see you soon. I-" Grimmjow cleared his throat, lowering his voice and turning away from Ichigo, "I love you too. Bye."

It was then that Ichigo could no longer contain his laughter, his sides already hurting from the attempt.

"Alright, that's enough. Shut the hell up," Grimmjow complained, punching Ichigo's shoulder none too gently. Ichigo merely rubbed his arm and managed to reduce his laughter to a giggle fit. Opening his eyes, he noticed Grimmjow was smiling, which quickly dropped when he noticed they'd made eye contact again. At that, Ichigo was finally able to stop laughing, wiping a tear as he tried to catch his breath.

"Cute," the blue haired man commented, receiving a punch identical to the one he'd given Ichigo a moment prior. As if to show off, he made no acknowledgement that he'd been hit at all. "So, anyway. Obviously, uh, my niece is coming over. Tomorrow, or maybe tonight. I don't know if her mom's gonna give in and actually drive her all the way over here in one go."

"She lives far away?" Ichigo asked, finally sitting up straight again, grimacing at the mess he'd made of the blanket, which his feet couldn't find their way out of.

"Yeah... she used to live a little closer, but it was still a pain in the ass even back then. You good with kids?"

"Uh..." he stopped to genuinely consider it. Considering he'd grown up with two little sisters, as well as having matured quicker than he'd been expected to due to his mother's death, he supposed he would consider himself experienced at the very least. "Sure. Definitely not bad with them, at least."

"Good. By the way, are you gonna shower while you're here? Again?" Grimmjow inquired, and Ichigo barely considered even thinking about going home.

"Yeah. I'll probably be here bugging you for a while, if you'll let me."

"Bug away, little... I don't know, fuckin' bee or something."

That had Ichigo snickering again, finally escaping the confines of the blanket he'd been partially stuck in. He apparently didn't have to bother asking for more clothes to borrow, which he still felt strange about, as Grimmjow had retreated to his room and then brought out a set of clothes a few minutes later.

"Jeez, alright. I guess I'll shower right now, then," Ichigo said, suddenly realizing he hadn't done so the previous day and equally suddenly becoming less offended. He got up- a bit too quickly as his vision had left him for a moment- and made his way over to the bathroom. He tossed the clothes onto the counter and ended up staring at the sink for a good few minutes as he spaced out. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to think about the situation with Renji and Rukia. It just must have been one of those things that his mind needed time to prepare itself for on its own. It was a strange concept that Ichigo had eventually accepted, having happened more than once before.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo started the water and allowed it to warm up as he undressed. Hopefully, he wouldn't end up spacing out again and taking too long.


	16. Chapter 16

Ichigo scowled as he dried his hair off, once again failing to bring himself to think about the Soul Reaper situation. Of course, he had no idea what exactly to think of it, but that didn't mean he should be drawing a complete blank. He could at least start to consider how many days it'll take to forgive his best friends. Probably less than a week, he begrudgingly decided.

"You look pissed," Grimmjow noted from the couch, having avoided Ichigo's attention until then, "did Nnoitra bust in again or something?"

"I actually kinda liked him," Ichigo admitted, "but I guess I understand why you'd be annoyed if he just breaks in without permission all the time."

Then again, he'd quickly grown used to finding Rukia reading in his closet back when he lived with his family. That wasn't the same as breaking in, however, as Isshin had simply let her in without telling Ichigo when he was either away or otherwise occupied to the point where he wouldn't notice the noise at the front door. He didn't understand why she liked his closet so much, as Yuzu and Karin had offered one of their beds to her on more than one occasion. Maybe she just liked enclosed spaces.

"-all in all, he's just fuckin' filthy." Ichigo allowed himself to look as if he were at a complete and utter loss, which he was, before he realized he hadn't been paying attention to a word Grimmjow had been saying. He decided to just nod to avoid the awkwardness of asking him to repeat himself.

As Ichigo finally sat down next to Grimmjow, the latter offered him the bottle he was holding. Ichigo tried, and failed, to read the label on it before just assuming it was alcohol and declining with a shake of his head.

"Thought you wanted to drown your sorrows or whatever," Grimmjow reminded, not that Ichigo needed a reminder that he was stressed out.

"That, uh... it was a bad decision. I don't think I should make it again." At that, Ichigo gasped and sat straight up from his previous slouch. "Oh, shit, I forgot! Speaking of making, I made some new maps in that minigolf game while I was drunk."

Grimmjow snickered, not moving as Ichigo turned on the television and console- which he accomplished much faster than while he was drunk.

"Can't wait to see what that wasted brain of yours thought up," the blue haired man remarked, taking another sip from the bottle he was still holding before setting it down on the coffee table in front of him.

* * *

"You know, I remember having to complete the hole to validate it," Ichigo started, interrupting himself with a sip of his water, "but I have absolutely no recollection of how I did it."

The other two maps Ichigo made had been easy enough, but he was beginning to wonder if there was some sort of limit to the amount of strokes you can have in the game, as he and Grimmjow both were rapidly approaching 20. They'd been talking about giving up once Ichigo hit 10 strokes, but then it just ended up becoming a competition to see who could get a hole in one from the start that they kept rolling back to- or rather, hole in 24 or so as it seemed like it was going to be.

As Ichigo somehow accidentally made it past the hill that had been screwing the both of them over, he groaned loudly at his ruining of their competition, already considering just tapping the ball back to the start to even the playing field again. He set his drink down and his controller soon followed when he noticed his phone vibrating. He stared at the caller ID, seeing that it was Renji calling. Usually it was Rukia who attempted to contact him when he stormed out, with Renji too stubborn to make up with Ichigo as the situation usually had it.

Shrugging, he picked his phone up and got up to move away from Grimmjow. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling Renji would clam up if he found out Ichigo wasn't alone for the conversation, despite knowing he was most likely staying with Grimmjow.

"What?" he answered rather rudely once he reached the guest room Grimmjow had finally introduced him to mid-game. He almost felt bad about it, as he didn't mean to appear angry, but he supposed it wasn't much different from his usual demeanor.

"Listen, I know you're still mad at us and all, but this is very important, Ichigo," came the unexpectedly serious response.

"Wait, what is? What's-"

"I need you walk to a place I can pick you up from right now." Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"Why? Something you have to tell me in person?" he asked, struggling not to snicker as he heard what sounded oddly like a controller bouncing off the floor from the other room. He only hoped nothing got broken.

"Are you alone right now? Or is that guy in the room?" Renji asked, ignoring the question.

"I walked away in case you had Soul Reaper stuff to talk about or whatever. What's going on?" Ichigo was tempted to ask whatever happened to calling Grimmjow his boyfriend, but was in no hurry to remind Renji had he forgotten.

"That guy you're staying with... blue hair, blue eyes... I get that it's kind of a vague description, but the blue hair is uncommon enough to set off the alarms. There's someone in the area suspected of being an Arrancar by that description."

There was a brief moment of silence as Ichigo swallowed, feeling he should in fact be alarmed but... he was oddly calm.

"I... I just want you to be safe, alright? I'd never forgive myself if you died and it was partially my fault that you stormed out and got yourself killed in the first place."

Ichigo could tell Renji was having a hard time negotiating with his pride to say such things, even wanted to tease him about it, but he was having a hard time finding his own words. He could swear he felt an odd twisting in his gut and wondered if perhaps that was the pretense to some sort of huge freak out.

"Ichigo... are you there? You better still be there. If he heard this and got to you I swear-"

"I'm still here, Renji. I'm fine," Ichigo assured, not sure of what else to say. "I, uh... I just don't think..."

"You don't need to think. Just do what I say, please. Please, Ichigo, you're in real danger. You don't know what these guys can do." Ichigo could then say for certain that he was about to feel sick just from the genuine desperation in Renji's voice, all pride and stubbornness thrown right out the window. He would already have been surprised if it were Rukia saying such things, but the fact that it was Renji was really starting to make him panic.

"I-I'll ask-"

"No, don't ask him for a ride," Renji interrupted, "you need to get away from him right now. Just tell him you're leaving and walk to the nearest store or diner or bus stop or- anything. Just anything that I can find."

"Wait, hang on," Ichigo said, finally getting a grip on his senses once more, "if he never did anything to hurt me before, what makes you think he suddenly will now?"

"Don't start with that. If I told you he was a serial killer you would haul ass out of there, wouldn't you? It's basically the same thing!"

"Except he's just _suspected_ of being something that _isn't_ a serial killer! Plus, you don't even know for sure if he's the one who's-"

"Ichigo, why are you so eager to throw your life away instead of trusting me?!"

As Ichigo was about to attempt to answer, he heard a knock on the door and nearly threw his phone into the air as he jumped.

"I, uh, I have to go. I'll call you back," he hurriedly promised, missing the button at first but hanging up on his second try. As he did so, there was another knock.

"Can I come in or what?" Grimmjow asked rather impatiently. Ichigo had forgotten that most people wait to be let in when they knock, as his family (and Rukia after a while) had simply knocked out of courtesy before coming in almost immediately without permission. He found it somewhat amusing that Grimmjow of all people would be the one to remind him of this.

"Uh, yeah. I was just," he forced himself to look at Grimmjow as he walked in despite everything in him arguing against doing so, "talking to Renji."

"Soul Reaper stuff?" Ichigo hesitated slightly. Obviously telling Grimmjow what the conversation about was out of the question.

"Yeah," he lied, "it's just that, you know, he could get in trouble just for telling me, so it'd probably be even worse if someone else happened to hear."

"Right. Well, I'm not here to snoop around, anyway. I know you already said you didn't mean that promise you made yesterday-"

"Hey, that's not what I said!"

"Even better," Grimmjow smiled, "I just want one thing. You said we could do anything I wanted, right?"

Ichigo couldn't find it in himself to give a real answer, deciding to simply nod, ableit a bit hesitantly, and see what it was he wanted.

"Just one more kiss. That's all."

There was a brief moment of silence before Ichigo sighed.

"That's all? Well... that's not too bad," Ichigo admitted, hoping his face wasn't already visibly heating up. He gave his best effort towards maintaining his composure as Grimmjow leaned in, failing to hold his breath, which Ichigo didn't even realize was what he'd been doing, and nearly surprising himself with his sudden exhalation. Ichigo closed his eyes and waited a moment to return the kiss before finding that Grimmjow had already pulled away.

"Th-that didn't count, I wasn't ready."

"What?"

"One more!" Ichigo insisted. "I'll... I'll do it right this time."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, though clearly not displeased, and leaned in once more. As the kiss went on, Ichigo let Renji back into his mind, suddenly worrying that he was practically making out with a criminal- and a murderer at that. But... anyone could dye their hair blue as well as have naturally blue eyes, or even get contacts. He heard once that the majority of the population's favorite color was blue, after all. It had to be somewhat of a popular look...

"What's wrong?" Grimmjow asked, barely moving away enough to speak. Ichigo felt his breath on his lips and the thoughts he'd been worrying over practically flew from his head for a few seconds before crashing back down on him as he got a hold of himself. Taking a deep breath, he decided it was better to be safe than sorry. Safe from Renji's scolding at the very least, even if he didn't think there was any reason to think that being away from Grimmjow counted as being safe.

"I, uh, well, Renji wanted me to come home. He said to walk somewhere he could pick me up, like a nearby store or something."

"Why can't he just come here?"

"I don't know, he's being weird about it," Ichigo lied. Though he supposed Renji admitting in any way that he legitimately cared about the safety of his friend was a bit weird.

"Thought you were still mad at him," Grimmjow reminded, finally standing up straight again and giving Ichigo appropriate room to breathe.

"Well..." he genuinely considered it for a moment before realizing he couldn't really find any irritation in him- probably due to having been a bit scared earlier, "I think it'd be better to, uh, make up or whatever sooner than later. It's like you said, I've kinda been storming out a lot. It's... it's immature."

"Better to storm out than to wreck the place," Grimmjow offered, ruining Ichigo's moment of self realization.

"What, did you have anger issues or something?"

"By "did" are you implying I don't currently have them?"

Ichigo had been joking, but Grimmjow's answer made the color that had filled his face start to drain just a bit. He didn't exactly look harmless, after all.

"Relax, you've never even seen me pissed. In fact, I actually used to, uh... not be so great with kids. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm _great_ with them now, but I learned pretty fast that yelling at them to shut up tends to just make them cry louder. For Nel, at least."

"You yelled at a little kid? Awful!" Ichigo teased, though easily relating to his frustration. He'd always been soft on his sisters, but there had been times where he'd wanted to yell.

"What, like you're any better with 'em? You didn't seem too sure of yourself when I asked."

"I grew up with sisters a few years younger than me and you wouldn't believe how big of a difference even _one_ year can make, much less four." Ichigo then supposed that perhaps he'd had a skewed and biased view of himself at their age whenever he'd think to compare. It was also quite difficult to remember exactly how he acted during any particular age, regardless of any cherry picking or lackthereof.

"Anyway, want me to drive you to the diner we met at?" Grimmjow offered, already walking out the door to the guest room before Ichigo even had an opportunity to answer. He stood up and followed him, walking slightly faster than what might be considered a casual pace as he remembered what Renji had said.

"Actually, uh," he contemplated explaining what Renji wanted him to do, but quickly decided against it to make things simpler, "I walked a lot further than that the other night, so... I think I can make it to one of the buildings I saw on the way. I'm sure I can make out some kind of vaguely accurate pronunciation to let Renji know where I am..."

"Or I could just say it for you." Grimmjow's offer was getting more and more tempting as Ichigo remembered he was in a foreign country.

"But... listen, I," again, Ichigo took a brief pause to consider telling Grimmjow what Renji had said, but decided to take a different route, "I don't think he really likes you. I mean, I've been spending a lot of time with you and not enough with him and you've been kinda biasing me against the guys he works for and... you get it."

"Who cares? Want him to not be able to find you?"

Ichigo was somewhat surprised at how undeterred the blue haired man was before realizing he really didn't seem like the type to care about what others thought after all. He at least had expected something along the lines of "fuck him then."

"If I have to, I'll walk all the way back. It'd just... really suck if you two got into an argument or something," Ichigo flimsily lied, wondering exactly how long it would take for Grimmjow to start calling him a wuss again.

"I'm driving you home," Grimmjow informed, having grabbed his keys almost as punctuation. Ichigo frowned at that.

"No, you're not," he shot back, pulling on Grimmjow's shoulder.

"Why the fuck are you being so stubborn?"

There was a moment of silence as Ichigo tried, really tried, to think of a good reason for it. A good reason that didn't involve spilling the phone call he'd gone through the trouble of keeping secret for the past few minutes. Grimmjow had apparently gotten tired of waiting, wrenching the door open and walking out into the driveway. Ichigo sighed, figuring it would be much easier to deal with Renji's worried scolding than it would be to convince Grimmjow not to do something he'd apparently decided on.


End file.
